orn^irnmrii 

ill 

i| 

1:     '" 

nni 

i 

1 

i 

ml 


ill 

mm 


i 

^i.< 

1 

J 

> 

V 

i    I 


m\i 


lii 


S,  U.  1. 


31S 


S.  U.  I. 

ION  ^'VISION 


BOOK    375. B63    c.  1 

BOBBITT    #    WHAT    SCHOOLS    TEACH    AND 

MIGHT   TEACH 


3    T153    OOiniET    7 


This  book  may  be  kept 

FOURTEEN  DAYS 

A  fine  of  TWO  CENTS  will  be  charged  for  each  day 
the  book  is  kept  over  time. 

APfc   '60 

1 
1 

! 

WHAT  THE  SCHOOLS  TEACH 
AND  MIGHT  TEACH 


THE  SURVEY  COMMITTEE  OF  THE 
CLEVELAND  FOUNDATION 

Charles  E.  Adams,  Chairman 

Thomas  G.  Fitzsimons 

Myrta  L.  Jones 

Bascom  Little 

Victor  W.  Sincere 


Arthur  D.  Baldwin,  Secretary 

James  R.  Garfield,  Counsel 

Allen  T.  Burns,  Director 


THE  EDUCATIONAL  SURVEY 
Leonard  P.  Ayres,  Director 


CLEVELAND  EDUCATION  SURVEY 

WHAT  THE  SCHOOLS 

TEACH  AND  MIGHT 

TEACH 


BY 

FRANKLIN  BOBBITT 

ASSISTANT    PROFESSOR    OF    EDUCATIONAL   ADMINISTRATION 
THE    UNIVER8ITT   OF   CHICAGO 


THE  SURVEY  COMMITTEE  OF  THE 

CLEVELAND  FOUNDATION 

CLEVELAND  •  OHIO 


Copyright,  1915,  by 

the  survey  committee  of  the 
cleveland  foundation 


WM  •  F.  FELL  CO  •  PRINTEB3 
PHILADELPHIA 


FOREWORD 

This  report  on  ''What  the  Schools  Teach  and 
Might  Teach"  is  one  of  the  25  sections  of  the 
report  of  the  Educational  Survey  of  Cleveland 
conducted  by  the  Survey  Committee  of  the 
Cleveland  Foundation  in  1915.  Twenty-three  of 
these  sections  will  be  published  as  separate  mono- 
graphs. In  addition  there  will  be  a  larger  volume 
giving  a  summary  of  the  findings  and  recom- 
mendations relating  to  the  regular  work  of  the 
public  schools,  and  a  second  similar  volume 
giving  the  summary  of  those  sections  relating  to 
industrial  education.  Copies  of  all  these  publi- 
cations may  be  obtained  from  the  Cleveland 
Foundation.  They  may  also  be  obtained  from 
the  Division  of  Education  of  the  Russell  Sage 
Foundation,  New  York  City.  A  complete  hst 
will  be  found  in  the  back  of  this  volume,  to- 
gether with  prices. 


TABLE  OF  CONTENTS 

FAOB 

Foreword  ^ 

List  of  Tables  9 

Prefatory  Statement  11 

The  Point  of  View  15 

Reading  and  Literature  21 

Spelling  35 

Handwriting  40 

Language,  Composition,  Grammar  41 

Mathematics  46 

Algebra  50 

Geometry  52 

History  54 

Civics  62 

Geography  65 

Drawing  and  Applied  Art  69 

Manual  Training  and  Household^Arts  72 

Elementary  Science  79 

High  School  Science  81 

Physiology  and  Hygiene  83 

Physical  Training  88 

Music  92 

Foreign  Languages  94 

Differentiation  of  Courses  98 

Summary  101 


LIST  OF  TABLES 

TABLE  PAOB5 

1.  Time  given  to  reading  and  literature  21 

2.  Sets  of  supplementary  reading  books  per 

building  28 

3.  Weeks  given  to  reading  of  different  books  in 

High  School  of  Commerce  31 

4.  Time  given  to  spelling  35 

5.  Time  given  to  handwriting  40 

6.  Time  given  to  language,  composition,  and 

grammar 

7.  Time  given  to  arithmetic  46 

8.  Time  given  to  history  54 

9.  Time  given  to  geography  65 

10.  Time  given  to  drawing  69 

11.  Time  given  to  manual  training  72 

12.  Time  given  to  science,  physiology,  hygiene     84 

13.  Time  given  to  physical  training  88 

14.  Time  given  to  music  92 


41 


WHAT  THE   SCHOOLS  TEACH  AND 
MIGHT  TEACH 

PREFATORY  STATEMENT 

For  an  understanding  of  some  of  the  character- 
istics of  this  report  it  is  necessary  to  mention 
certain  of  the  conditions  under  which  it  was 
prepared. 

The  printed  course  of  study  for  the  elemen- 
tary schools  to  be  found  in  June,  1915,  the  time 
the  facts  were  gathered  for  this  report,  was  pre- 
pared under  a  former  administration.  While  its 
main  outlines  were  still  held  to,  it  was  being 
departed  from  in  individual  schools  in  many 
respects.  Except  occasionally  it  was  not  pos- 
sible to  find  record  of  such  departures.  It  was 
beheved  that  to  accept  the  printed  manual 
as  representing  current  procedure  would  do 
frequent  injustice  to  thoughtful,  constructive 
workers  within  the  system.  But  it  must  be 
remembered  that  courses  of  study  for  the  city 
cover  the  work  of  twelve  school  years  in  a  score 
and  more  of  subjects,   distributed  through  a 

11 


hundred  buildings.  Only  a  small  fraction  of 
this  comprehensive  program  is  going  on  during 
any  week  of  the  school  year;  and  of  this  fraction 
only  a  relatively  small  amount  could  actually  be 
visited  by  one  man  in  the  time  possible  to  de- 
vote to  the  task.  In  the  absence  of  records  of 
work  done  or  of  work  projected,  unduly  large 
weight  had  to  be  given  to  the  recommendations 
set  down  in  the  latest  published  course  of  study 
manual. 

New  courses  of  study  were  being  planned  for 
the  elementary  schools.  This  in  itself  indicated 
that  the  manual  could  not  longer  be  regarded  as 
an  authoritative  expression  of  the  ideas  of  the 
administration.  Yet  with  the  exception  of  a 
good  arithmetic  course  and  certain  excellent  be- 
ginnings of  a  geography  course,  little  indica- 
tion could  be  found  as  to  what  the  details  of  the 
new  courses  were  to  be.  The  present  report  has 
had  to  be  written  at  a  time  when  the  adminis- 
tration by  its  acts  was  rejecting  the  courses  of 
study  laid  out  in  the  old  manual,  and  yet  before 
the  new  courses  were  formulated.  Under  the 
circumstances  it  was  not  a  safe  time  for  setting 
forth  the  facts,  since  not  even  the  administra- 
tion knew  yet  what  the  new  courses  were  to  be 
in  their  details.  It  was  not  a  safe  time  to  be 
either  praising  or  blaming  course  of  study  re- 
quirements.    The  situation  was  too  unformed 

12 


for  either.  In  the  matter  of  the  curriculum,  the 
city  was  confessedly  on  the  eve  of  a  large  con- 
structive program.  Its  face  was  toward  the 
future,  and  not  toward  the  past;  not  even 
toward  the  present. 

It  was  felt  that  if  the  brief  space  at  the  dis- 
posal of  this  report  could  also  look  chiefly 
toward  the  future,  and  present  constructive 
reconmiendations  concerning  things  that  ob- 
servation indicated  should  be  kept  in  mind,  it 
would  accomphsh  its  largest  service.  The  time 
that  the  author  spent  in  Cleveland  was  mostly 
used  in  observations  in  the  schools,  in  consul- 
tation with  teachers  and  supervisors,  and  in 
otherwise  ascertaming  what  appeared  to  be  the 
main  outUnes  of  practice  in  the  various  subjects. 
This  was  thought  to  be  the  point  at  which  fur- 
ther constructive  labors  would  necessarily  begin. 

The  recommendation  of  a  thing  in  this  report 
does  not  indicate  that  it  has  hitherto  been  non- 
existent or  umecognized  in  the  system.  The 
intention  rather  is  an  economical  use  of  the  brief 
space  at  our  disposal  in  calling  attention  to  what 
appear  to  be  certain  fundamental  principles  of 
curriculum-making  that  seem  nowadays  more 
and  more  to  be  employed  by  judicious  construc- 
tive workers. 

The  occasional  pointing  out  of  incomplete 
development  of  the  work  of  the  system  is  not 

13 


to  be  regarded  as  criticism.  Both  school  people 
and  community  should  remember  that  since 
schools  are  to  fit  people  for  social  conditions, 
and  since  these  conditions  are  continually 
changing,  the  work  of  the  schools  must  corres- 
pondingly change.  Social  growth  is  never  com- 
plete; it  is  especially  rapid  in  our  generation. 
The  work  of  education  in  preparing  for  these 
ever-new  conditions  can  likewise  never  be  com- 
plete, crystallized,  perfected.  It  must  grow  and 
change  as  fast  as  social  conditions  make  such 
changes  necessary.  To  point  out  such  further 
growth-needs  is  not  criticism.  The  intention  is 
to  present  the  disinterested,  detached  view  of 
the  outsider  who,  although  he  knows  indefinitelj^ 
less  than  those  within  the  system  about  the  de- 
tails of  the  work,  can  often  get  the  perspective 
rather  better  just  because  his  mind  is  not  filled 
with  the  details. 


14 


THE  POINT  OF  VIEW 

There  is  an  endless,  and  perhaps  worldwide, 
controversy  as  to  what  constitutes  the  '^  essen- 
tials" of  education;  and  as  to  the  steps  to  be 
taken  in  the  teaching  of  these  essentials.  The 
safe  plan  for  constructive  workers  appears  to 
be  to  avoid  personal  educational  philosophies 
and  to  read  all  the  essentials  of  education  within 
the  needs  and  processes  of  the  community 
itself.  Since  we  are  using  this  social  point  of 
view  in  making  curriculum  suggestions  for 
Cleveland,  it  seems  desirable  first  to  explain 
just  what  we  mean.  Some  of  the  matters  set 
down  may  appear  so  obvious  as  not  to  require 
expression.  They  need,  however,  to  be  pre- 
sented again  because  of  the  frequency  with 
which  they  are  lost  sight  of  in  actual  school 
practice. 

Children  and  youth  are  expected  as  they 
grow  up  to  take  on  by  easy  stages  the  char- 
acteristics of  adulthood.  At  the  end  of  the  pro- 
cess it  is  expected  that  they  will  be  able  to  do 
the  things  that  adults  do;  to  think  as  they 
think ;  to  bear  adult  responsibilities ;  to  be  effi- 
cient in  work;  to  be  thoughtful  public-spirited 
citizens;  and  the  like.  The  individual  who 
reaches  this  level  of  attainment  is  educated, 

15 


even  though  he  may  never  have  attended 
school.  The  one  who  falls  below  this  level  is 
not  truly  educated,  even  though  he  may  have 
had  a  surplus  of  schooling. 

To  bring  one's  nature  to  full  maturity,  as 
represented  by  the  best  of  the  adult  community 
in  which  one  grows  up,  is  true  education  for  life 
in  that  community.  Anything  less  than  this 
falls  short  of  its  purpose.  Anything  other  than 
this  is  education  misdirected. 

In  very  early  days,  when  community  life 
was  simple,  practically  all  of  one's  education 
was  obtained  through  participating  in  com- 
munity activities,  and  without  systematic 
teaching.  From  that  day  to  this,  however,  the 
social  world  has  been  growing  more  complex. 
Adults  have  developed  kinds  of  activities  so 
complicated  that  youth  cannot  adequately 
enter  into  them  and  learn  them  without  sys- 
tematic teaching.  At  first  these  things  were 
few;  with  the  years  they  have  grown  very 
numerous. 

One  of  the  earliest  of  these  too-complicated 
activities  was  written  language — reading,  writ- 
ing, spelling.  These  matters  became  necessities 
to  the  adult  world;  but  youth  under  ordinary 
circumstances  could  not  participate  in  them 
as  performed  by  adults  sufficiently  to  master 
them.    They  had  to  be  taught;  and  the  school 

16 


thereby  came  into  existence.  A  second  thing 
developed  about  the  same  time  was  the  com- 
pHcated  number  system  used  by  adults.  It 
was  too  difficult  for  youth  to  master  through 
participation  only.  It  too  had  to  be  taught,  and 
it  offered  a  second  task  for  the  schools.  In  the 
early  schools  this  teaching  of  the  so-called  Three 
R's  was  all  that  was  needed,  because  these  were 
the  only  adult  activities  that  had  become  so 
compUcated  as  to  require  systematized  teaching. 
Other  things  were  still  simple  enough,  so  that 
young  people  could  enter  into  them  sufficiently 
for  all  necessary  education. 

As  community  vision  widened  and  men's 
affairs  came  to  extend  far  beyond  the  horizon, 
a  need  arose  for  knowledge  of  the  outlying 
world.  This  knowledge  could  rarely  be  obtained 
sufficiently  through  travel  and  observation. 
There  arose  the  new  need  for  the  systematic 
teaching  of  geography.  What  had  hitherto 
not  been  a  human  necessity  and  therefore  not 
an  educational  essential  became  both  because 
of  changed  social  conditions. 

Looking  at  education  from  this  social  point 
of  view  it  is  easy  to  see  that  there  was  a  time 
when  no  particular  need  existed  for  history, 
drawing,  science,  vocational  studies,  civics,  etc., 
beyond  what  one  could  acquire  by  minghng 
with  one's  associates  in  the  community.  These 
2  17 


were  therefore  not  then  essentials  for  education. 
It  is  just  as  easy  to  see  that  changed  social  con- 
ditions of  the  present  make  necessary  for  every 
one  a  fuller  and  more  systematic  range  of  ideas 
in  each  of  these  fields  than  one  can  pick  up  in- 
cidentally. These  things  have  thereby  become 
educational  essentials.  Whether  a  thing  today 
is  an  educational  '^essential"  or  not  seems  to 
depend  upon  two  things:  whether  it  is  a  human 
necessity  today;  and  whether  it  is  so  complex 
or  inaccessible  as  to  require  systematic  teach- 
ing. The  number  of  ''essentials'^  changes  from 
generation  to  generation.  Those  today  who 
proclaim  the  Three  R's  as  the  sole  ''essentials'^ 
appear  to  be  calling  from  out  the  rather  distant 
past.  Many  things  have  since  become  essential; 
and  other  things  are  being  added  year  by  year. 
The  normal  method  of  education  in  things 
not  yet  put  into  the  schools,  is  participation  in 
those  things.  One  gets  his  ideas  from  watching 
others  and  then  learns  to  do  by  doing.  There 
is  no  reason  to  believe  that  as  the  school  lends 
its  help  to  some  of  the  more  difficult  things, 
this  normal  plan  of  learning  can  be  set  aside 
and  another  substituted.  Of  course  the  schools 
must  take  in  hand  the  difficult  portions  of 
the  process.  Where  complicated  knowledge  is 
needed,  the  schools  must  teach  that  knowledge. 
Where  drill  is  required,  they  must  give  the  drill. 

18 


But  the  knowledge  and  the  drill  should  be  given 
in  their  relation  to  the  human  activities  in 
which  they  are  used.  As  the  school  helps  young 
people  to  take  on  the  nature  of  adulthood,  it 
will  still  do  so  by  helping  them  to  enter  ade- 
quately into  the  activities  of  adulthood.  Youth 
will  learn  to  think,  to  judge,  and  to  do,  by  think- 
ing, judging,  and  doing.  They  will  acquire  a 
sense  of  responsibihty  by  bearing  responsibility. 
They  wdll  take  on  serious  forms  of  thought  by 
doing  the  serious  things  which  require  serious 
thought. 

It  cannot  be  urged  that  young  people  have  a 
Hfe  of  their  own  which  is  to  be  lived  only  for 
youth^s  sake  and  without  reference  to  the  adult 
world  about  them.  As  a  matter  of  fact  children 
and  youth  are  a  part  of  the  total  community 
of  which  the  mature  adults  are  the  natural  and 
responsible  leaders.  At  an  early  age  they  begin 
to  perform  adult  activities,  to  take  on  adult 
points  of  view,  to  bear  adult  responsibilities. 
Naturally  it  is  done  in  ways  appropriate  to  their 
natures.  At  first  it  is  imitative  play,  con- 
structive play,  etc. — nature's  method  of  bring- 
ing children  to  observe  the  serious  world  about 
them,  and  to  gird  themselves  for  entering  into 
it.  The  next  stage,  if  normal  opportunities  are 
provided,  is  playful  participation  in  the  ac- 
tivities of  their  elders.    This  changes  gradually 

19 


into  serious  participation  as  they  grow  older, 
becoming  at  the  end  of  the  process  responsible 
adult  action.  It  is  not  possible  to  determine 
the  educational  materials  and  processes  at  any 
stage  of  growth  without  looking  at  the  same 
time  to  that  entire  world  of  which  youth  forms 
a  part,  and  in  which  the  nature  and  abilities 
of  their  elders  point  the  goal  of  their  training. 

The  social  point  of  view  herein  expressed  is 
sometimes  characterized  as  being  utilitarian. 
It  may  be  so ;  but  not  in  any  narrow  or  undesira- 
ble sense.  It  demands  that  training  be  as  wide 
as  life  itself.  It  looks  to  human  activities  of 
every  type:  religious  activities ;  civic  activities; 
the  duties  of  one's  calling;  one's  family  duties; 
one's  recreations;  one's  reading  and  medita- 
tion; and  the  rest  of  the  things  that  are  done 
by  the  complete  man  or  woman. 


20 


READING  x\ND  LITERATURE 

The  amount  of  time  given  to  reading  in  the  ele- 
mentary schools  of  Cleveland,  and  the  average 
time  in  50  other  cities*  are  shown  in  the  follow- 
ing table: 

TABLE  1.— TIME  GIVEN  TO  READING  AND  LITERATURE 


Hours  per  year 

Per  cent  of  grade  time 

Grade 

Cleveland 

50  cities 

Cleveland 

50  cities 

1 

317 

266 

43 

31 

2 

317 

235 

36 

26 

3 

279 

188 

32 

21 

4 

196 

153 

22 

16 

5 

161 

126 

18 

13 

6 

136 

117 

15 

12 

7 

152 

98 

17 

10 

8 

152 

97 

17 

10 

Total 

1710 

1280 

25 

17 

During  the  course  of  his  school  life,  each  pupil 
who  finishes  the  elementary  grades  in  Cleve- 
land receives  1710  hours  of  recitation  and  di- 
rected study  in  reading  as  against  an  average 
of  1280  hours  in  progressive  cities  in  general. 
This  is  an  excess  of  430  hours,  or  34  per  cent. 
The  annual  cost  of  teaching  reading  being  about 
$600,000,  this  represents  an  excess  annual  in- 

*  Henry  W.  Holmes,  "Time  Distribution  by  Subjects  and 
Grades  in  Representative  Cities."  In  the  Fourteenth  Year 
Book  of  the  National  Society  for  the  Study  of  Education, 
Part  I,  1915.     University  of  Chicago  Press. 

21 


vestment  in  this  subject  of  some  $150,000. 
Whether  or  not  this  excess  investment  in  read- 
ing is  justified  depends,  of  course,  upon  the  way 
the  time  is  used.  If  the  city  is  aiming  only  at 
the  usual  mastery  of  the  mechanics  of  reading 
and  the  usual  introductory  acquaintance  with 
simple  works  of  literary  art,  it  appears  that 
Cleveland  is  using  more  time  and  labor  than 
other  cities  consider  needful.  If,  on  the  other 
hand,  this  city  is  using  the  excess  time  for  widely 
diversified  reading  chosen  for  its  content  value 
in  revealing  the  great  fields  of  history,  industry, 
applied  science,  manners  and  customs  in  other 
lands,  travel,  exploration,  inventions,  biography, 
etc.,  and  in  fixing  life-long  habits  of  intelUgent 
reading,  then  it  is  possible  that  it  is  just  this 
excess  time  that  produces  the  largest  educational 
returns  upon  the  investment. 

It  would  seem,  however,  from  a  careful  study 
of  the  actual  work  and  an  examination  of  the 
printed  documents,  that  the  chief  purpose  of 
teaching  reading  in  this  city  is,  to  use  the  ter- 
minology of  its  latest  manual,  '^easy  expressive 
oral  reading  in  rich,  well-modulated  tone.'^  It  is 
true  that  other  aims  are  mentioned,  such  as 
enlargement  of  vocabulary,  word-study,  under- 
standing of  expressions  and  allusions,  acquain- 
tance with  the  leading  authors,  appreciation 
of  ^^  beautiful  expressions, "  etc.     Properly  em- 

22 


phasized,  each  of  these  purposes  is  vaUd;  but 
there  are  other  equally  valid  ends  to  be  achieved 
through  proper  choice  of  the  reading-content 
that  are  not  mentioned.  There  is  here  no 
criticism  of  the  purposes  long  accepted,  but 
of  the  apparent  failure  to  recognize  other 
equally  important  ones.  The  character  of  the 
reading-content  is  referred  to  only  in  the  recom- 
mendation that  in  certain  grades  it  should  relate 
to  the  seasons  and  to  special  occasions.  Even  in 
reference  to  the  supplementary  reading,  where 
content  should  be  the  first  concern,  the  only 
statement  of  purpose  is  that  '^children  should 
read  for  the  joy  of  it."  Unfortunately,  this 
mistaken  emphasis  is  not  at  all  uncommon 
among  the  schools  of  the  nation.  How  one 
reads  has  received  an  undue  amount  of  atten- 
tion; what  one  reads  in  the  school  courses 
must  and  will  receive  an  increasingly  large 
share  of  time  and  thought,  in  the  new  evalua- 
tion. The  use  of  interesting  and  valuable 
books  for  other  educational  purposes  at  the 
same  time  that  they  are  used  for  drill  in  the 
mechanics  of  reading  is  coming  more  and  more 
to  be  recognized  as  an  improved  mode  of  pro- 
cedure. The  mechanical  side  of  reading  is  not 
thereby  neglected.  It  is  given  its  proper  func- 
tion and  relation,  and  can  therefore  be  better 
taught. 

23 


So  far  as  one  can  see,  Cleveland  is  attempting 
in  the  reading  work  little  more  than  the  tradi- 
tional thing.  The  thirty-four  per  cent  excess 
time  may  be  justified  by  the  city  on  the  theory 
that  the  schools  are  commissioned  to  get  the 
work  done  one-third  better  than  in  the  average 
city.  The  reading  tests  made  by  the  Survey 
fail  to  reveal  any  such  superiority.  The  city 
appears  to  be  getting  no  better  than  average 
results. 

Certainly  people  should  read  well  and  effec- 
tively in  all  ways  in  which  they  will  be  called 
upon  to  read  in  their  adult  affairs.  For  the 
most  part  this  means  reading  for  ideas,  sugges- 
tions, and  information  in  connection  with  the 
things  involved  in  their  several  callings ;  in  con- 
nection with  their  civic  problems;  for  recrea- 
tion; and  for  such  general  social  enlightenment 
as  comes  from  newspapers,  magazines,  and 
books.  Most  reading  will  be  for  the  content. 
It  is  desirable  that  the  reading  be  easy  and 
rapid,  and  that  one  gather  in  all  the  ideas  as 
one  reads.  Because  of  the  fact  that  oral  reading 
is  slower,  more  laborious  for  both  reader  and 
listener,  and  because  of  the  present  easy 
accessibility  of  printed  matter,  oral  reading  is 
becoming  of  steadily  diminishing  importance 
to  adults.  No  longer  should  the  central  educa- 
tional purpose  be  the  development  of  expressive 

24 


oral  reading.  It  should  be  rapid  and  effective 
silent  reading  for  the  sake  of  the  thought  read. 

To  train  an  adult  generation  to  read  for  the 
thought,  schools  must  give  children  full  prac- 
tice in  reading  for  the  thought  in  the  ways  in 
which  later  as  adults  they  should  read.  After 
the  primary  teachers  have  taught  the  elements, 
the  work  should  be  mainly  voluminous  reading 
for  the  sake  of  entering  into  as  much  of  the 
world's  thought  and  experience  as  possible. 
The  work  ought  to  be  rather  more  extensive 
than  intensive.  The  chief  end  should  be  the 
development  of  that  wide  social  vision  and 
understanding  which  is  so  much  needed  in  this 
comphcated  cosmopolitan  age.  While  works  of 
Uterary  art  should  constitute  a  considerable 
portion  of  the  reading  program,  they  should  not 
monopolize  the  program,  nor  indeed  should  they 
be  regarded  as  the  most  important  part  of  it. 
It  is  history,  travel,  current  news,  biography, 
advance  in  the  world  of  industry  and  applied 
science,  discussions  of  social  relations,  political  ad- 
justments, etc.,  which  adults  need  mostly  to  read; 
and  it  is  by  the  reading  of  these  things  that  chil- 
dren form  desirable  and  valuable  reading  habits. 

The  reading  curriculum  needs  to  be  looked 

after  in   two   important   ways.      First,   social 

standards  of  judgment  should  determine  the 

nature  of  the  reading.    The  texts  beyond  the 

25 


primary  grades  are  now  for  the  most  part  selec- 
tions of  literary  art.  Very  little  of  it  has  any 
conscious  relation,  immediate  or  remote,  to 
present-day  problems  and  conditions  or  with 
their  historical  background.  Probably  children 
should  read  many  more  selections  of  literary 
art  than  are  found  in  the  textbooks  and  the 
supplementary  sets  now  owned  by  the  schools. 
But  certainly  such  cultural  literary  experience 
ought  not  to  crowd  out  kinds  of  reading  that 
are  of  much  greater  practical  value.  Illumina- 
tion of  the  things  of  serious  importance  in  the 
everyday  world  of  human  affairs  should  have  a 
large  place  in  reading  work  of  every  school. 

It  is  true  that  the  supplementary  sets  of 
books  have  been  chosen  chiefly  for  their  con- 
tent value.  Many  are  historical,  biographical, 
geographical,  scientific,  civic,  etc.,  in  character. 
On  the  side  of  content,  they  have  advanced 
much  farther  than  the  textbooks  toward  what 
should  constitute  a  proper  reading  course. 
Unfortunately,  the  schools  are  very  incompletely 
supplied  with  these  sets.  If  we  consider  all  the 
sets  of  supplementary  readers  found  in  10  or 
more  schools,  we  find  that  few  of  those  assigned 
for  fourth-grade  reading  are  found  in  one- 
quarter  of  the  buildings  and  none  are  in  half  of 
them.  The  same  is  true  of  the  books  for  use  in 
the  fifth  and  seventh  grades.  Some  of  the  books 

26 


for  the  sixth  and  eighth  grades  are  found  in  more 
than  half  of  the  buildings,  but  there  is  none  that 
is  found  in  as  many  as  three-quarters  of  them. 
The  second  thing  greatly  needed  to  improve 
the  reading  course  is  more  reading  practice. 
One  learns  to  do  a  thing  easily,  rapidly,  and 
effectively  by  practice.  The  course  of  study  in 
reading  should  therefore  provide  the  opportu- 
nity for  much  practice.  At  present  the  reading 
texts  used  aggregate  for  the  eighth  grade  some 
2100  pages.  A  third-grade  child  ought  to  read 
matter  suitable  for  its  intelHgence  at  20  pages 
per  hour,  and  a  grammar-grade  child  at  30  to 
40  pages  per  hour.  Since  rapidity  of  reading  is 
one  of  the  desired  ends,  the  practice  reading 
should  be  rapid.  At  the  moderate  rates  men- 
tioned, the  entire  series  of  reading  texts  ought 
to  be  read  in  some  80  hours.  This  is  10  hours' 
practice  for  each  of  the  eight  school  years,  an 
altogether  insufficient  amount  of  rapid  reading 
practice.  Of  course  the  texts  can  be  read  twdce, 
or  let  us  say  three  times,  aggregating  30  hours 
of  practice  per  year.  But  even  this  is  not  more 
than  could  easily  be  accompHshed  in  two  or 
three  weeks  of  each  of  the  years — always  pre- 
suming that  the  reading  materials  are  rightly 
adapted  to  the  mental  maturity  of  the  pupils. 
This  leaves  35  weeks  of  the  year  unprovided 
for.  To  make  good  this  deficit,  the  buildings  are 

27 


furnished  with  supplementary  books  in  sets 
sufficiently  large  to  supply  entire  classes.  The 
average  number  of  such  sets  per  building  is 
shown  in  the  following  table: 


TABLE  2.— SETS  OF  SUPPLEMENTARY  READING  BOOKS  PER 
BUILDING 


Grade 

Average  number  of  sets 

1 

10.0 

2 

6.3 

3 

5.1 

4 

5.5 

5 

6.3 

6 

5.3 

7 

5.5 

8 

6.0 

A  fifth,  sixth,  seventh,  or  eighth-grade  student 
ought  to  be  able  to  read  all  the  materials  sup- 
plied his  grade,  both  reading  texts  and  all  kinds 
of  supplementary  reading,  in  40  or  50  hours. 
He  ought  to  do  it  easily  in  six  weeks'  work, 
without  encroaching  on  recitation  time.  He 
can  read  all  of  it  twice  in  10  weeks;  and  three 
times  in  14  weeks.  After  reading  everything 
three  times  over,  there  still  remain  24  weeks  of 
each  year  unprovided  for. 

The  reply  of  teachers  is  that  the  work  is  so 
difficult  that  it  has  to  be  slowed  down  enough 
to  consume  these  24  weeks.  But  is  not  this  to 
admit  that  the  hill  is  too  steep,  that  there  is 
too  much  dead  pull,  and  that  the  materials  are 

28 


ill-chosen  for  practice  in  habits  of  rapid  intelli- 
gent reading?  It  is  not  by  going  slow  that  one 
learns  to  go  fast.  Quite  the  reverse.  Too  often 
the  school  runs  on  low  speed  gear  when  it  ought 
to  be  running  on  high.  The  low  may  be  neces- 
sary for  the  starting,  but  not  for  the  running. 
It  may  be  necessary  in  the  primary  grades,  but 
not  thereafter  for  those  who  have  had  a  normal 
start.  Reading  practice  should  certainly  make 
for  increased  speed  in  effective  reading. 

The  actual  work  in  the  grades  is  very  different 
from  the  plan  suggested.  In  taking  up  any 
selection  for  reading,  the  plan  in  most  schools 
is  about  as  follows: 

1.  A  list  of  the  unusual  words  met  with  is 
written  on  the  blackboard. 

2.  Teacher  and  pupils  discuss  the  meaning  of 
these  words;  but  unfortunately  words  out  of 
the  context  often  carry  no  meaning. 

3.  The  words  are  marked  diacritically,  and 
pronounced. 

4.  Pupils  ^^use  the  words  in  sentences."  The 
pupil  frequently  has  nothing  to  say  that  in- 
volves the  word.  It  is  only  given  an  imitation  of 
a  real  use  by  being  put  into  an  artificial  sentence. 

5.  The  oral  reading  is  begun.  One  pupil 
reads  a  paragraph. 

6.  With  the  book  removed,  the  meaning  of 
the  paragraph  is  then  reproduced  either  by  the 

29 


reader  or  some  other  pupil.  This  work  is  neces- 
sarily perfunctory  because  the  pupil  knows  he 
is  not  giving  information  to  anybody.  Every- 
body within  hearing  already  has  the  meaning 
fresh  in  mind  from  the  previous  reading.  The 
normal  child  cannot  work  up  enthusiasm  for 
oral  reproduction  under  such  conditions. 

7.  The  paragraph  is  analyzed  into  its  various 
elements,  and  these  in  turn  are  discussed  in 
detail. 

Such  work  is  not  reading.  It  is  analysis.  A 
selection  is  not  read,  it  is  analyzed.  The  purpose 
of  real  reading  is  to  enter  into  the  thought 
and  emotional  experience  of  the  writer;  not  to 
study  the  methods  by  which  the  author  ex- 
pressed himself.  The  net  result  when  the  work 
is  done  as  described  is  to  develop  a  critical 
consciousness  of  methods,  without  helping  the 
children  to  enter  normally  and  rightly  into  the 
experience  of  the  writer.  The  children  of  Cleve- 
land need  this  genuine  training  in  reading. 

Reading  in  the  high  schools  needs  very  much 
the  same  sort  of  modernization.  There  are  more 
kinds  of  literature  than  classical  belles-lettres, 
and  perhaps  more  important  kinds.  We  would 
not  advocate  a  reduction  of  the  amount  of 
aesthetic  literature.  Indeed,  the  young  people 
of  Cleveland  need  to  enter  into  a  far  wider 
range  of  such  literature  than  is  the  case  at 

30 


present.  But  the  reading  courses  in  high  schools 
should  be  built  out  in  ways  already  recom- 
mended for  elementary  schools. 

The  training,  however,  should  be  mainly  in 
reading  and  not  in  analysis.  The  former  is  of 
surpassing  importance  to  all  people;  the  latter 
is  important  only  to  certain  specialists.  And, 
what  is  more,  fullness  of  reading  and  right 
ways  of  reading  will  accomphsh  incidentally 
most  of  the  things  aimed  at  in  the  analysis. 

The  following  table  of  the  reading  outline  of 
the  High  School  of  Commerce  is  a  fair  sample  of 
what  the  city  is  doing.  Note  how  much  time  is 
given  to  the  reading  and  analysis  of  the  few 
selections  covered  in  four  years. 

TABLE  3— WEEKS  GIVEN  TO  READING  OF  DIFFERENT  BOOKS 
IN  HIGH  SCHOOL  OF  COMMERCE 

Weeks  to 

First  Year  read 

Ashmun's  Prose  Selections  9 

Cricket  on  the  Hearth  5 

Sohrab  and  Rustum  3 

Midsummer  Night's  Dream  6 

Ivanhoe  11 

Second  Year 

Autobiography  of  Franklin  7 

Idjdls  of  the  King  10 

Treasure  Island  7 

Sketch  Book  7 

Vision  of  Sir  Launfal  3 

Third  Year 

Silas  Marner  7 

Iliad  (Bryant's — 4  books)  5 

Washington's  Farewell  Address  5 

First  Bunker  Hill  Oration  6 

Emerson's  Compensation  5 

Roosevelt  Book  6 

Fourth  Year 

Markham's  The  Man  with  the  Hoe  2 

Tale  of  Two  Cities  10 

Public  Duty  of  the  Educated  Man  4 

Macbeth  11 

Self-Reliance  6 

31 


When  a  short  play  of  a  hundred  pages  Uke  Mac- 
beth requu-es  nearly  three  months  for  reading, 
when  almost  two  months  are  given  to  Treasure 
Island  and  nearly  three  months  to  Ivanhoe, 
clearly  it  is  something  other  than  reading  that 
is  being  attempted.  It  is  perfectly  obvious  that 
the  high  schools  are  attending  principally  to  the 
mechanics  of  expression  and  not  to  the  content 
of  the  expression.  The  relative  emphasis  should 
be  reversed. 

The  amount  of  reading  in  the  high  schools 
should  be  greatly  increased.  Those  who  object 
that  rapid  work  is  superficial  believe  that  work 
must  be  slow  to  be  thorough.  It  should  be 
remembered,  however,  that  slow  work  is  often 
superficial  and  that  rapid  work  is  often  excellent. 
In  fact  the  world's  best  workers  are  generally 
rapid,  accurate,  and  thorough.  Ask  any  busi- 
ness man  of  wide  experience.  Now  leaving  aside 
pupils  who  are  slow  by  nature,  it  can  be  affirmed 
that  pupils  will  acquire  slow,  thorough  habits  or 
rapid,  thorough  habits  according  to  the  way 
they  are  taught.  If  they  are  brought  up  by  the 
slow  plan,  naturally  when  speeded  up  suddenly, 
the  quality  of  their  work  declines.  They  can 
be  rapid,  accurate,  and  thorough  only  if  such 
strenuous  work  begins  early  and  is  continued 
consistently.  Slow  habits  are  undesirable  if 
better  ones  can  just  as  well  be  implanted. 

32 


To  avoid  possible  misunderstanding,  it  ought 
to  be  stated  that  the  plan  recommended  does 
not  mean  less  drill  upon  the  mechanical  side  of 
reading.  We  are  recommending  a  somewhat 
more  modernized  kind  of  mechanics,  and  a  much 
more  strenuous  kind  of  drill.  The  plan  looks 
both  toward  more  reading  and  improved  habits 
of  reading. 

One  final  suggestion  finds  here  its  logical 
place.  Before  the  reading  work  of  elementary 
or  high  schools  can  be  modernized,  the  city 
must  purchase  the  books  used  in  the  work. 
Leaving  the  supplying  of  books  to  private 
purchase  is  the  largest  single  obstacle  in  the 
way  of  progress.  Men  in  the  business  world 
will  have  no  difficulty  in  seeing  the  logic  of  this. 
When  shoes,  for  example,  were  made  by  hand, 
each  workman  could  easily  supply  his  own  tools ; 
but  now  that  elaborate  machinery  has  been 
devised  for  their  manufacture,  it  has  become  so 
expensive  that  a  machine  factory  must  supply 
the  tools.  It  is  so  in  almost  every  field  of  labor 
where  efficiency  has  been  introduced.  Now  the 
books  to  be  read  are  the  tools  in  the  teaching  of 
reading.  In  a  former  day  when  a  mastery  of 
the  mechanics  of  reading  was  all  that  seemed  to 
be  needed,  the  privately  purchased  textbook 
could  suffice.  In  our  day  when  other  ends  are 
set  up  beyond  and  above  those  of  former  days, 
3  33 


a  far  more  elaborate  and  expensive  equipment  is 
required.  The  city  must  now  supply  the  educa- 
tional tools.  It  is  well  to  face  this  issue  candidly 
and  to  state  the  facts  plainly.  Relative  failure 
can  be  the  only  possible  lot  of  reluctant  com- 
munities. They  can  count  on  it  with  the  same 
assurance  as  that  of  a  manufacturer  of  shoes 
who  attempts  to  employ  the  methods  of  former 
days  in  competition  with  modern  methods. 

In  this  city  the  expenditures  for  supple- 
mentary textbooks  have  amounted  to  some- 
thing more  than  $31,000  in  the  past  10  years. 
Approximately  one-third  of  this  sum  was  spent 
in  the  first  seven  years  of  the  decade  and  more 
than  $20,000  in  the  past  three  years.  This 
indicates  the  rapid  advance  in  this  direction 
made  under  the  present  school  administration 
but  the  supply  of  books  still  falls  far  short  of 
the  needs  of  the  schools.  A  fair  start  has  been 
made  but  nothing  should  be  permitted  to  ob- 
struct rapid  progress  in  this  direction. 


34 


SPELLING 

Cleveland  has  set  apart  an  average  amount  of 
program  time  for  spelling.  Possibly  the  study 
might  more  accurately  be  called  word-study, 
since  it  aims  also  at  training  for  pronunciation, 
syllabification,  vocabulary  extension,  and  ety- 
mology. Since  much  of  the  reading  time  is 
given  to  similar  word-study,  the  figures  pre- 
sented in  Table  4  are  really  too  small  to  repre- 
sent actual  practice  in  Cleveland. 

TABLE  4.— TIME  GIVEN  TO  SPELLING 


Grade 

Hours  per  year 

Per  cent  of  grade  time 

Cleveland 

50  cities 

Cleveland 

50  cities 

1 
2 
3 
4 
5 
6 
7 
8 

47 
63 
79 
63 
51 
47 
47 
47 

54 
66 
73 
67 
61 
58 
52 
51 

6.5 
7.2 
9.0 
7.1 
5.7 
5.4 
5.4 
5.4 

6.3 
7.3 
8.0 
6.9 
6.3 
5.9 
5.3 
5.1 

Total 

444 

482 

6.5 

6.4 

The  general  plan  of  the  course  is  indicated  in 
the  syllabus: 

*'Two  words  are  made  prominent  in  each 
lesson.       Their    pronunciation,    division    into 

35 


syllables,  derivation,  phonetic  properties,  oral 
and  written  spelling  and  meaning,  are  all  to 
be  made  clear  to  pupils. 

^^The  teaching  of  a  new  word  may  be  done  by 
using  it  in  a  sentence;  by  definition  or  descrip- 
tion; by  giving  a  synonym  or  the  antonym;  by 
illustration  with  object,  action  or  drawing;  and 
by  etymology. 

''Each  lesson  should  have  also  from  eight  to 
20  subordinate  words  taken  from  textbook  or 
composition  exercises.  .  .  .  Frequent  sup- 
plementary dictation,  word-building  and  phonic 
exercises  should  be  given.     Spell  much  orally. 

.  .  .  Teach  a  little  daily,  test  thoroughly, 
drill  intensively,  and  follow  up  words  mis- 
spelled persistently." 

In  most  respects  the  work  agrees  with  the 
usual  practice  in  progressive  cities:  the  teach- 
ing of  a  few  words  in  each  lesson;  the  frequent 
and  continuous  review  of  words  already  taught; 
taking  the  words  to  be  taught  from  the  language 
experience  of  the  pupils;  following  up  words 
actually  misspelled;  studying  the  words  from 
many  angles,  etc. 

In  some  respects  the  work  needs  further 
modernization.  The  words  chosen  for  the  work 
are  not  always  the  ones  most  needed.  Whether 
children  or  adults,  people  need  to  spell  only 
when  they  write.    They  need  to  spell  correctly 

36 


the  words  of  their  writing  vocabulary,  and  they 
need  to  spell  no  others.  More  important  still, 
they  need  to  acquire  the  habit  of  watching  their 
speUing  as  they  write;  the  habit  of  spelling 
every  word  with  certainty  that  it  is  correct, 
and  the  habit  of  going  to  word-hsts  or  diction- 
ary when  there  is  any  doubt. 

This  development  of  the  habit  of  watchful- 
ness over  their  speUing  as  they  write  is  the 
principal  thing.  One  who  has  it  will  always 
spell  well.  In  case  he  has  much  writing  to  do, 
it  automatically  leads  to  a  constant  renewing 
of  his  memory  for  words  used  and  prevents 
forgetting.  The  one  who  has  only  memorized 
word-lists,  even  though  they  have  been  rigor- 
ously drilled,  inevitably  forgets,  whether  rapidly 
or  slowly;  and  in  proportion  as  he  lacks  this 
general  habit  of  watchfulness,  degenerates  in 
his  spelling.  The  reason  why  schools  fail  to 
overcome  the  frequent  criticism  that  young 
people  do  not  spell  well,  is  because  of  the  fact 
that  they  have  been  trying  to  teach  specific 
words  rather  than  to  develop  a  general  and  con- 
stant watchfulness. 

The  fundamental  training  in  spelling  is  accom- 
plished in  connection  with  composition,  letter- 
writing,  etc.  Direct  word-list  study  should  have 
only  a  secondary  and  supplemental  place.  It  is 
needed,  first,  for  making  people  conscious  of  the 

37 


letter  elements  of  words  which  are  seen  as 
wholes  in  their  reading,  and  for  bringing  them 
to  look  closely  into  the  relations  of  these  letter 
elements;  second,  for  developing  a  preliminary 
understanding  of  the  spelling  of  words  used; 
and  third,  for  drill  upon  words  commonly  mis- 
spelled. While  a  necessary  portion  of  the  entire 
process,  it  probably  should  not  require  so  much 
time  as  is  now  given  to  it  and  the  time  saved 
should  be  devoted  to  the  major  task  of  teaching 
spelling  watchfulness  in  connection  with  writ- 
ing letters  and  compositions. 

The  great  majority  of  the  population  of 
Cleveland  will  spell  only  as  they  write  letters, 
receipts,  and  simple  memoranda.  They  do  not 
need  to  spell  a  wide  vocabulary  with  complete 
accuracy.  On  the  other  hand,  there  are  classes 
of  people  to  whom  a  high  degree  of  spelling 
accuracy  covering  a  fairly  wide  vocabulary  is 
an  indispensable  vocational  necessity:  clerks, 
copyists,  stenographers,  correspondents,  com- 
positors, proof-readers,  etc.  These  people  need 
an  intensive  specialized  training  in  spelling 
that  is  not  needed  by  the  mass  of  the  population. 
Such  specialized  vocational  training  should  be 
taken  care  of  by  the  Cleveland  schools,  but  it 
should  not  be  forced  upon  all  simply  because 
the  few  need  it.  The  attempt  to  bring  all  to  the 
high  level  needed  by  the  few,  and  the  failure  to 

38 


reach  this  level,  is  responsible  for  the  justifiable 
criticism  of  the  schools  that  those  few  who 
need  to  spell  unusually  well  are  imperfectly 
trained. 

The  spelhng  practice  should  continue  through 
the  high  school.  It  is  only  necessary  for  teachers 
to  refuse  to  accept  wTitten  work  that  contains 
any  misspelled  word  to  force  upon  students  the 
habit  of  watchfulness  over  every  word  written. 
The  High  School  of  Commerce  is  to  be  com- 
mended for  making  spelling  a  required  portion 
of  the  training.  The  course  needs  to  be  more 
closely  knit  with  composition  and  business  letter- 
\vTiting. 


39 


HANDWRITING 

Cleveland  gives  a  considerably  larger  propor- 
tion of  time  to  handwriting  than  the  average 
of  the  50  cities. 


TABLE  5.— TIME  GIVEN  TO  HANDWRITING 

Hours  per  year 

Per  cent  of  grade  time 

Grade 

Cleveland 

50  cities 

Cleveland 

50  cities 

1 

47 

50 

6.5 

6.7 

2 

63 

60 

7.2 

6.7 

3 

63 

52 

7.2 

5.7 

4 

63 

53 

7.2 

5.5 

5 

57 

50 

6.4 

5.1 

6 

47 

47 

5.4 

4.8 

7 

47 

39 

5.4 

3.9 

8 

32 

37 

3.6 

3.7 

Total 

419 

388 

6.1 

5.1 

The  curriculum  of  handwriting  resolves  itself 
mainly  into  questions  of  method,  and  of  stan- 
dards to  be  achieved  in  each  of  the  grades. 
These  matters  are  treated  intensively  in  the 
section  of  the  survey  report  entitled  "Measur- 
ing the  Work  of  the  Public  Schools." 


40 


LANGUAGE,  COMPOSITION,  GRAMMAR 

The  schools  devote  about  the  usual  amount  of 
time  to  training  for  the  correct  use  of  the 
mother  tongue.  Most  of  the  time  in  inter- 
mediate and  grammar  grades  is  devoted  to 
EngUsh  grammar.  Composition  receives  only 
minor  attention. 


TABLE  6.— TIME  GIVEN  TO  LANGUAGE,  COMPOSITION,  AND 
GRAMMAR 


Hours  per  year 

Per  cent  of  grade  time 

Grade 

Cleveland 

50  cities 

Cleveland 

50  cities 

1 

79 

75 

10.9 

8.6 

2 

95 

79 

10.8 

8.7 

3 

79 

94 

9.0 

10.3 

4 

104 

106 

11.8 

10.9 

5 

120 

116 

13.6 

12.0 

6 

120 

118 

13.6 

12.2 

7 

125 

134 

14.3 

13.7 

8 

125 

142 

14.3 

14.1 

Total 

847 

864 

12.3 

11.4 

In  the  teaching  of  grammar  too  much  stress  is 
placed  on  forms  and  relations.  Of  course  it  is 
expected  that  this  knowledge  will  be  of  service 
to  the  pupils  in  their  everyday  expression.  But 
such  practical  application  of  the  knowledge 
is  not  the  thing  toward  which  the  work  actually 
looks.     The  end  really  achieved  is  rather  the 

41 


ability  to  recite  well  on  textbook  grammar,  and 
to  pass  good  examinations  in  the  subject.  In 
classes  visited  the  thing  attempted  was  being 
done  in  a  relatively  effective  way.  And  when 
judged  in  the  light  of  the  kind  of  education  con- 
sidered best  20  years  ago,  the  work  is  of  a  super- 
ior character. 

As  a  matter  of  fact,  facility  in  oral  and  writ- 
ten expression  is,  like  everything  else,  mainly 
developed  through  much  practice.  The  form 
and  style  of  expression  is  perfected  mainly 
through  the  conscious  and  unconscious  imita- 
tion of  good  models.  Technical  grammar  plays, 
or  should  play,  the  relatively  minor  role  of 
assisting  students  to  eliminate  and  to  avoid 
certain  types  of  error.  Since  grammar  has  this 
perfectly  practical  function  to  perform,  prob- 
ably only  those  things  needed  should  be  taught; 
but  more  important  still,  everything  taught 
should  be  constantly  pult  to  use  by  the  pupils 
in  their  oversight  of  their  own  speech  and  writ- 
ing. Only  as  knowledge  is  put  to  work,  is  it 
really  learned  or  assimilated.  The  schools 
should  require  much  oral  and  written  expression 
of  the  pupils,  and  should  enforce  constant 
watchfulness  of  their  own  speech  on  the  part 
of  the  pupils.  It  is  possible  to  require  pupils  to 
go  over  all  of  their  written  work  and  to  examine 
it,  before  handing  it  in,  in  the  light  of  all  the 

42 


grammatical  rules  they  have  learned.  It  is  also 
possible  for  pupils  to  guard  consciously  against 
knoTvn  types  of  error  which  they  are  accustomed 
to  make  in  their  oral  recitations.  Every  re- 
citation in  whatever  subject  provides  oppor- 
tunity for  such  training  in  habits  of  watchful- 
ness. Only  as  the  pupil  is  brought  to  do  it  him- 
self, without  prompting  on  the  part  of  the 
teacher,  is  his  education  accompUshed. 

A  Umited  amount  of  systematic  grammatical 
teaching  is  a  necessary  prehminary  step.  The 
purpose  is  an  introductory  acquaintance  with 
certain  basic  forms,  terminology,  relationships, 
and  grammatical  perspective.  This  should  be 
accomphshed  rapidly.  Like  the  prehminary 
survey  in  any  field,  this  stage  of  the  work  will 
be  relatively  superficial.  Fullness  and  depth  of 
understanding  will  come  with  apphcation.  This 
preliminary  understanding  can  not  be  learned 
''incidentally."  Such  a  plan  fails  on  the  side 
of  perspective  and  relationship,  which  are  pre- 
cisely the  things  in  which  the  preparatory  teach- 
ing of  the  subject  should  be  strong. 

This  preliminary  training  in  technical  gram- 
mar need  not  be  either  so  extensive  or  so  in- 
tensive as  it  is  at  present.  An  altogether  dis- 
proportionate amount  of  time  is  now  given  to 
it.  The  time  saved  ought  to  go  to  oral  and  writ- 
ten expression, — composition,  we  might  call  it, 

43 


except  that  the  word  has  been  spoiled  because 
of  the  artificiaUty  of  the  exercises. 

The  composition  or  expression  most  to  be 
recommended  consists  of  reports  on  the  sup- 
plementary reading  in  connection  with  history, 
geography,  industrial  studies,  civics,  sanita- 
tion, etc. ;  and  reports  of  observations  on  related 
matters  in  the  community.  Topics  of  interest 
and  of  value  are  practically  numberless.  Such 
reports  will  usually  be  oral ;  but  often  they  will 
be  written.  Expression  occurs  naturally  and 
normally  only  where  there  is  something  to  be 
discussed.  The  present  manual  suggests  com- 
positions based  upon  ^^  changes  in  trees,  dis- 
semination of  seeds,  migration  of  birds,  snow, 
ice,  clouds,  trees,  leaves,  and  flowers. "  This  type 
of  composition  program  under  present  condi- 
tions cannot  be  a  vital  one.  Elementary  science 
is  not  taught  in  the  schools  of  Cleveland;  and 
so  the  subject  matter  of  these  topics  is  not 
developed.  Further,  it  is  the  world  of  human 
action,  revealed  in  history,  geography,  travels, 
accounts  of  industry,  commerce,  manufacture, 
transportation,  etc.,  that  possesses  the  greater 
value  for  the  purposes  of  education,  as  well  as 
far  greater  interest  for  the  student. 

Probably  little  time  should  be  set  apart  on 
the  program  for  composition.  The  expression 
side  of  all  the  school  work,  both  in  the  elemen- 

44 


tary  school  and  in  the  high  school,  should  be 
used  to  give  the  necessary  practice.  The 
technical  matters  needed  can  be  taught  in 
occasional  periods  set  aside  for  that  specific 
purpose. 

The  isolation  of  the  composition  work  con- 
tinues through  the  academic  high  schools  and 
in  considerable  degree  through  the  technical 
high  schools  also.  In  the  high  schools  the 
expression  work  probably  needs  to  be  developed 
chiefly  in  the  classes  in  science,  history,  in- 
dustrial studies,  commercial  and  industrial 
geography,  physics,  etc.,  where  the  students 
have  an  abundance  of  things  to  discuss.  Prob- 
ably four-fifths  of  all  of  the  training  in  English 
expression  in  the  high  schools  should  be  accom- 
plished in  connection  with  the  oral  and  written 
work  of  the  other  subjects. 


45 


MATHEMATICS 

To  arithmetic,  the  Cleveland  schools  are  devot- 
ing a  somewhat  larger  proportion  of  time  than 
the  average  of  cities. 


TABLE  7.— TIME  GIVEN  TO  ARITHMETIC 

Hours  per  year 

Per  cent  of  grade  time 

Grade 

Cleveland 

50  cities 

Cleveland 

50  cities 

1 

38 

60 

5.2 

6.9 

2 

136 

96 

15.5 

10.7 

3 

142 

131 

16.3 

14.4 

4 

152 

149 

17.2 

15.4 

5 

142 

144 

17.1 

14.9 

6 

155 

146 

17.5 

15.0 

7 

142 

140 

16.1 

14.4 

8 

158 

142 

17.9 

14.1 

Total 

1065 

1008 

15.5 

13.3 

That  everybody  should  be  well  grounded  in 
the  fundamental  operations  of  arithmetic  is  so 
obvious  as  to  require  no  discussion.  Beyond 
this  point,  however,  difficult  problems  arise. 
The  probabilities  are  that  the  social  and  voca- 
tional conditions  of  the  coming  generation  will 
require  that  everybody  be  more  mathematical- 
minded  than  at  present. 

The  content  of  mathematics  courses  is  to  be 
determined  by  human  needs.  One  of  the  funda- 

46 


mental  needs  of  the  age  upon  which  we  are  now 
entering  is  accurate  quantitative  thinking  in 
the  fields  of  one's  vocation,  in  the  supervision 
of  our  many  co-operative  governmental  labors, 
in  our  economic  thinking  with  reference  to 
taxation,  expenditures,  insurance,  public  utili- 
ties, civic  improvements,  pensions,  corporations, 
and  the  multitude  of  other  civic  and  vocational 
matters. 

Just  as  the  thought  involved  in  physics, 
astronomy,  or  engineering  needs  to  be  put  in 
mathematical  terms  in  order  that  it  may  be 
used  effectively,  so  must  it  be  with  effective 
vocational,  civic,  and  economic  thinking  in 
general.  Our  chief  need  is  not  so  much  the 
ability  to  do  calculations  as  it  is  the  ability 
to  think  in  figures  and  the  habit  of  thinking  in 
figures.  Calculations,  while  indispensable,  are 
incidental  to  more  important  matters. 

Naturally  before  one  is  prepared  to  use 
mathematical  forms  of  thought  in  considering 
the  many  social  and  vocational  problems,  he 
must  have  mastered  the  fundamentals.  The 
elementary  school,  at  as  early  an  age  as  prac- 
ticable, should  certainly  give  the  necessary  pre- 
liminary knowledge  of  and  practice  in  the 
fundamental  operations  of  arithmetic.  This 
should  be  done  with  a  high  degree  of  thorough- 
ness, but  it  should  always  be  kept  in  mind  that 

47 


this  is  only  a  preliminary  mastery  of  the 
alphabet  of  mathematical  thinking.  The  other 
part  of  our  problem  is  a  development  of  the 
quantitative  aspects  of  the  vocational,  eco- 
nomic, and  civic  subjects.  One  finds  clear  recog- 
nition of  this  in  Cleveland  in  the  new  arithmetic 
manual.    The  following  quotations  are  typical: 

"The  important  problem  of  the  seventh  and 
eighth  grades  is  to  enable  the  pupils  to  under- 
stand and  deal  intelligently  with  the  most  im- 
portant social  institutions  with  which  arithmet- 
ical processes  are  associated." 

In  discussing  the  teaching  of  the  mathemat- 
ical aspect  of  insurance,  we  find  this  statement : 
''Owing  to  the  important  place  this  subject 
holds  in  life,  we  should  emphasize  its  informa- 
tional value  rather  than  its  mathematical  con- 
tent." 

Under  taxation  and  revenue:  ''If  the  general 
features  of  this  subject  are  presented  from  the 
standpoint  of  civics,  the  pupils  should  have  no 
difficulty  in  solving  the  problems  as  no  new 
principle  is  introduced." 

Under  stocks  and  bonds:  "Pupils  should  be 
taught  to  know  what  a  corporation  is,  its  chief 
officers,  how  it  is  organized,  what  stocks  and 
bonds  are,  and  how  dividends  are  declared  and 
paid,  in  so  far  as  such  knowledge  is  needed  by 
the  general  public." 

48 


These  statements  indicate  a  recognition  of  the 
most  important  principle  that  should  control 
in  the  development  of  all  of  the  mathematics, 
elementary  and  secondary,  beyond  the  pre- 
liminary training  needed  for  accuracy  and  rapid- 
ity in  the  fundamental  operations. 

When  this  principle  is  carried  through  to  its 
logical  conclusion,  it  will  be  observed  that  most 
of  these  developments  will  not  take  place  within 
the  arithmetic  class,  but  in  the  various  other 
subjects.  Arithmetic  teaching,  Uke  the  teaching 
of  penmanship,  etc.,  is  for  the  purpose  of  giving 
tools  that  are  to  be  used  in  matters  that  He 
beyond.  The  full  development  will  take  place 
within  these  various  other  fields.  For  the 
present,  it  probably  will  be  well  for  the  schools 
to  develop  the  matters  both  within  the  arith- 
metic classes  and  in  the  other  classes.  Neither 
being  complete  at  present,  each  will  tend  to 
complete  the  other. 

On  the  side  of  the  preliminary  training  in  the 
fundamental  operations,  the  present  arithmetic 
course  of  study  is  on  the  whole  of  a  superior 
character.  It  provides  for  much  drill,  and  for 
a  great  variety  of  drill.  It  emphasizes  rapidity, 
accuracy,  and  the  confidence  that  comes  to 
pupils  from  checking  up  their  results.  It  holds 
fast  to  fundamentals,  dispensing  with  most  of 
the  things  of  little  practical  use.  It  provides 
4  49 


easy  advances  from  the  simple  to  the  com- 
pUcated.  The  field  of  number  is  explored  in  a 
great  variety  of  directions  so  that  pupils  are 
made  to  feel  at  home  in  the  subject.  One  large 
defect  is  the  lack  of  printed  exercise  materials, 
the  use  of  which  would  result  in  greatly  in- 
creased effectiveness.  Such  printed  materials 
ought  to  be  furnished  in  great  abundance. 


Algebra 
In  the  report  of  the  Educational  Commission 
of  Cleveland,  1906,  we  find  the  following  very 
significant  sentences  relative  to  the  course  of 
study  for  the  proposed  high  school  of  com- 
merce : 

^'An  entirely  new  course  of  study  should  be 
made  out  for  this  school.  Subjects  which  have 
been  considered  necessary  in  a  high  school, 
because  they  tend  to  develop  the  mind,  should 
not  for  this  reason  only  be  placed  in  a  com- 
mercial course.  Subjects  should  not  be  given 
because  they  strengthen  the  mind,  but  the  sub- 
jects which  are  necessary  in  this  course  should 
be  given  in  such  a  way  as  to  strengthen  the 
mind.  The  mathematics  in  this  school  should 
consist  of  business  arithmetic  and  mensuration. 
We  can  see  no  reason  for  giving  these  students 
either  algebra  or  geometry.   But  they  should  be 

50 


taught  short  and  practical  methods  of  working 
business  problems." 

We  find  here  a  recommendation  since  carried 
out  that  indicates  a  clear  recognition  of  the 
principle  of  adaptation  of  the  course  of  study  to 
actual  needs.  Carried  out  to  its  logical  conclu- 
sion, and  applied  to  the  entire  city  system,  it 
raises  questions  as  to  the  advisability  of  requir- 
ing algebra  of  girls  in  any  of  the  high  school 
courses ;  or  of  requiring  it  of  that  large  number  of 
boys  looking  forward  to  vocations  that  do  not 
involve  the  generalized  mathematics  of  algebra. 
Now  either  the  commercial  students  do  need 
algebra  or  a  large  proportion  of  these  others 
do  not  need  it.  It  seems  advisable  here  to  do 
nothing  more  than  to  present  the  question  as 
one  which  the  city  needs  to  investigate.  The 
present  practice,  in  Cleveland  as  elsewhere, 
reveals  inconsistency.  In  one  or  the  other  of  the 
schools  a  wrong  course  is  probably  being  fol- 
lowed. The  current  tendency  in  public  edu- 
cation is  toward  agreement  with  the  principle 
enunciated  by  the  Cleveland  Educational  Com- 
mission, and  toward  a  growing  and  consistent 
application  of  it. 

Differentiation  in  the  mathematics  of  differ- 
ent classes  of  pupils  is  necessary.  The  pubhc 
schools  ought  to  give  the  same  mathematics  to 
all  up  to  that  level  where  the  need  is  common 

51 


to  all.  Beyond  that  point,  mathematics  needs 
to  be  adapted  to  the  probable  future  activities 
of  the  individual.  There  are  those  who  will 
need  to  reach  the  higher  levels  of  mathematical 
ability.  Others  wall  have  no  such  need. 

There  is  a  growing  belief  that  even  for  those 
who  are  in  need  of  algebra  the  subject  is  not  at 
present  organized  in  desirable  ways.  It  is  thought 
that,  on  the  one  hand,  it  should  be  knit  up  in 
far  larger  measure  mth  practical  matters,  and 
on  the  other,  it  should  be  developed  in  connec- 
tion with  geometry  and  trigonometry.  The 
technical  high  schools  of  Cleveland  have  adopted 
this  form  of  organization.  Their  mathematics  is 
probably  greatly  in  advance  of  that  of  the 
academic  schools. 

Geometry 
Form  study  should  begin  in  the  kindergarten, 
and  it  should  develop  through  the  grades  and 
high  school  in  ways  similar  to  the  arithmetic, 
and  in  conjunction  with  the  arithmetic,  draw- 
ing, and  construction  work.  Since  geometrical 
forms  involve  numerical  relations,  they  supply 
good  materials  to  use  in  making  number  rela- 
tions concrete  and  clear.  This  is  now  done  in 
developing  ideas  of  fractions,  multiplication, 
division,  ratio,  per  cent,  etc.  It  should  be  done 
much  more  fully  and  variously  than  at  present 

52 


and  for  the  double  purpose  of  practising  the 
form-ideas  as  well  as  the  number-ideas.  Arith- 
metic study  and  form-study  can  well  grow 
up  together,  gradually  merging  into  the  com- 
bined algebra  and  geometry  so  far  as  students 
need  to  reach  the  higher  levels  of  mathematical 
generalization. 

At  the  same  time  that  this  is  being  developed 
in  the  mathematics  classes,  development  should 
also  be  going  on  in  the  classes  of  drawing,  de- 
sign, and  construction.  The  alphabet  of  form- 
study  will  thus  be  taught  in  several  of  the 
studies.  The  application  will  be  made  in  prac- 
tical design,  in  mechanical  and  free-hand  draw- 
ing, in  constructive  labor,  in  the  graphical  rep- 
resentation of  social,  economic,  and  other  facts 
of  life.  The  apphcation  comes  not  so  much  in 
the  development  of  practical  problems  in  the 
mathematics  classes  as  in  the  development  of 
the  form  aspect  of  those  other  activities  that 
involve  form. 

We  have  here  pointed  to  what  appears  to 
be  in  progressive  schools  a  growing  program  of 
work.  Everywhere  it  is  yet  somewhat  vague  and 
inchoate.  In  connection  with  the  arithmetic, 
the  drawing,  the  construction  and  art  work,  and 
the  mathematics  of  the  technical  high  schools, 
it  appears  to  be  developing  in  Cleveland  in  a 
vigorous  and  healthy  manner. 

53 


HISTORY 

The  curriculum  makers  for  elementary  educa- 
tion do  not  seem  to  have  placed  a  high  valua- 
tion upon  history.  Apparently  it  has  not  been 
considered  an  essential  study  of  high  worth,  like 
reading,  writing,  spelling,  grammar,  and  arith- 
metic. To  history  are  allotted  but  290  hours  in 
Cleveland,  as  against  496  hours  in  the  average 
of  50  progressive  American  cities.  This  dis- 
crepancy should  give  the  city  pause  and  con- 
cern. If  a  mistake  is  being  made,  it  is  more 
likely  to  be  on  the  part  of  an  individual  city 
than  upon  that  of  50  cities.  The  probability 
is  that  Cleveland  is  giving  too  little  time  to  this 
subject. 


TABLE  8.— TIME  GIVEN  TO  HISTORY 


Hours  per  year 

Per  cent  of  grade  time 

Grade 

Cleveland 

50  cities 

Cleveland 

50  cities 

1 

0 

27 

0.0 

3.1 

2 

0 

31 

0.0 

3.4 

3 

19 

35 

2.1 

3.8 

4 

25 

57 

2.9 

5.8 

5 

25 

67 

2.9 

6.9 

6 

51 

71 

5.7 

7.3 

7 

85 

91 

9.7 

9.2 

8 

85 

117 

9.7 

11.6 

Total 

290 

496 

4.2 

6.5 

54 


The  treatment  in  the  course  of  study  manual 
indicates  that  it  is  a  neglected  subject.  Of  the 
108  pages,  it  receives  an  aggregate  of  less  than 
two.  The  perfunctory  assignment  of  work  for 
the  seventh  grade  is  typical: 

''United  States  History 

B  Assignment. 

Mace's  History,  pp.  1-124  inclusive. 

Questions  and  suggested  collateral  reading 
found  in  Appendix  may  be  used  as  teacher 
directs. 

A  Assignment. 

Mace's  History,  pp.  125-197. 

Make  use  of  questions  and  suggested  col- 
lateral reading  at  your  own  option.'^ 

For  fifth  and  sixth  grades  there  is  assigned  a 
small  history  text  of  200  pages  for  one  or  two 
lessons  per  week.  The  two  years  of  the  seventh 
and  eighth  grades  are  devoted  to  the  mastery 
of  about  500  pages  of  text.  While  there  is  in- 
cidental reference  to  collateral  reading,  as  a 
matter  of  fact  the  schools  are  not  supplied 
with  the  necessary  materials  for  this  collateral 
reading  in  the  grammar  grades.  The  true 
character  of  the  work  is  really  indicated  by  the 
last  sentence  of  the  eighth-grade  history  assign- 
ment: ''The  text  of  our  book  should  be  thor- 
oughly mastered." 

55 


In  discussing  the  situation,  the  first  thing  to 
which  we  must  call  attention  is  the  great  value 
of  history  for  an  understanding  of  the  multitude 
of  complicated  social  problems  met  with  by  all 
people  in  a  democracy.  In  a  country  where  all 
people  are  the  rulers,  all  need  a  good  un- 
derstanding of  the  social,  political,  economic, 
industrial,  and  other  problems  with  which  we 
are  continually  confronted.  It  is  true  the  thing 
needed  is  an  understanding  of  present  condi- 
tions, but  there  is  no  better  key  to  a  right  under- 
standing of  our  present  conditions  than  history 
furnishes.  One  comes  to  understand  a  present 
situation  by  observing  how  it  has  come  to  be. 
History  is  one  of  the  most  important  methods  of 
social  analysis. 

The  history  should  be  so  taught  that  it  will 
have  a  demonstrably  practical  purpose.  In 
drawing  up  courses  of  study  in  the  subject  for 
the  grammar  grades  and  the  high  school,  the 
first  task  should  be  an  analysis  of  present-day 
social  conditions,  the  proper  understanding  of 
which  requires  historical  background.  Once 
having  discovered  the  list  of  social  topics,  it  is 
possible  to  find  historical  readings  which  will 
show  how  present  conditions  have  grown  up 
out  of  earlier  ones.  Looked  at  from  a  practical 
point  of  view,  the  history  should  be  developed 
on  the  basis  of  topics,  a  great  abundance  of 

56 


reading  being  provided  for  each  of  the  topics. 
We  have  in  mind  such  topics  as  the  following : 

Sociological  Aspects  of  War 

Territorial  Expansion 

Race  Problems 

Tariff  and  Free  Trade 

Transportation 

Money  Systems 

Our  Insular  Possessions 

Growth  of  Population 

Trusts 

Banks  and  Banking 

Immigration 

Capital  and  Labor 

Education 

Inventions 

Suffrage 

Centralization  of  Government 

Strikes  and  Lockouts 

Panics  and  Business  Depressions 

Commerce 

Taxation 

Manufacturing 

Labor  Unions 

Foreign  Commerce 

Agriculture 

Postal  Service 

Army 

Government  Control  of  Corporations 

Municipal  Government 

Navy 

Factory  Labor 

Wages 

57 


Courts  of  Law 

Charities 

Crime 

Fire  Protection 

Roads  and  Road  Transportation 

Newspapers  and  Magazines 

National  Defense 

Conservation  of  Natural  Resources 

Liquor  Problems 

Parks  and  Playgrounds 

Housing  Conditions 

Mining 

Health;  Sanitation,  etc. 

Pensions 

Unemployment 

Child  Labor 

Women  in  Industry 

Cost  of  Living 

Pure  Food  Control 

Savings  Banks 

Water  Supply  of  Cities 

Prisons 

Recreations  and  Amusements 

Co-operative  Buying  and  Selling 

Insurance 

Hospitals 

After  drawing  up  such  lists  of  topics  for  study, 
they  should  be  assigned  to  grammar  grades 
and  high  school  according  to  the  degree  of 
maturity  necessary  for  their  comprehension. 
Naturally  as  much  as  possible  should  be  covered 
in  the  grammar  grades.     Such  as  cannot  be 

58 


covered  there  should  be  covered  as  early  as 
practicable  in  the  high  school,  since  so  large  a 
number  of  students  drop  out,  and  all  need  the 
work.  Of  course,  this  would  involve  a  radical 
revision  of  the  high  school  courses  in  history. 
It  is  not  here  recommended  that  any  such 
changes  be  attempted  abruptly.  There  are  too 
many  other  conditions  that  require  readjust- 
ment at  the  same  time.  It  must  all  be  a  gradual 
growth. 

Naturally,  students  must  have  some  famihar- 
ity  with  the  general  time  relations  of  history 
and  the  general  chronological  movements  of 
affairs  before  they  can  understand  the  more  or 
less  specialized  treatment  of  individual  topics. 
Preliminary  studies  are  therefore  both  neces- 
sary and  desirable  in  the  intermediate  and 
grammar  grades  for  the  purpose  of  giving  the 
general  background.  During  these  grades  a 
great  wealth  of  historical  materials  should  be 
stored  up.  Pupils  should  acquire  much  famili- 
arity with  the  history  of  the  ancient  oriental 
nations,  Judea,  Greece,  Rome,  the  states  of 
modern  Europe  and  America.  The  purpose 
should  be  to  give  a  general,  and  in  the  beginning 
a  relatively  superficial,  overview  of  the  world's 
history  for  the  sake  of  perspective.  The  read- 
ing should  be  biographical,  anecdotal,  thriUing 
dramas  of  human  achievement,  rich  with  human 

59 


interest.  It  should  be  at  every  stage  of  the 
work  on  the  level  with  the  understanding  and 
degree  of  maturity  of  the  pupils,  so  that  much 
reading  can  be  covered  rapidly.  Given  the 
proper  conditions — chiefly  an  abundance  of  the 
proper  books  supplied  in  sets  large  enough  for 
classes — pupils  can  cover  a  large  amount  of 
ground,  obtain  a  wealth  of  historical  experience, 
and  acquire  a  great  quantity  of  useful  informa- 
tion, the  main  outlines  of  which  are  remembered 
without  much  difficulty.  They  can  in  this 
manner  lay  a  broad  historical  foundation  for 
the  study  of  the  social  topics  that  should  begin 
by  the  seventh  grade  and  continue  throughout 
the  high  school. 

The  textbooks  of  the  present  type  can  be 
employed  as  a  part  of  this  preliminary  training. 
Read  in  their  entirety  and  read  rapidly,  they 
give  one  that  perspective  which  comes  from  a 
comprehensive  view  of  the  entire  field.  But  they 
are  too  brief,  abstract,  and  barren  to  afford 
valuable  concrete  historical  experience.  They 
are  excellent  reference  books  for  gaining  and 
keeping  historical  perspective. 

Reading  of  the  character  that  we  have  here 
called  preliminary  should  not  cease  as  the  other 
historical  studies  are  taken  up.  The  general 
studies  should  certainly  continue  for  some  por- 
tion of  the  time  through  the  grammar  grades 

60 


and  high  school,  but  it  probably  should  be 
mainly  supervised  reading  of  interesting  ma- 
terials rather  than  recitation  and  examination 
work. 

We  would  recommend  that  the  high  schools 
give  careful  attention  to  the  recommendation 
of  the  National  Education  Association  Com- 
mittee on  the  Reorganization  of  the  Secondary 
Course  of  Study  in  History. 


61 


CIVICS 

Civic  training  scarcely  finds  a  place  upon  the 
elementary  school  program.  The  manual  sug- 
gests that  one-quarter  of  the  history  time — 
10  to  20  minutes  per  week — in  the  fifth  and 
sixth  grades  should  be  given  to  a  discussion  of 
such  civic  topics  as  the  department  of  public 
service,  street  cleaning,  garbage  disposal,  health 
and  sanitation,  the  city  water  supply,  the 
mayor  and  the  council,  the  treasurer,  and  the 
auditor.  The  topics  are  important,  but  the  time 
allowed  is  inadequate  and  the  pupils  of  these 
grades  are  so  immature  that  no  final  treatment 
of  such  comphcated  matters  is  possible.  For 
seventh  and  eighth  grades,  the  manual  makes 
no  reference  to  civics.  This  is  the  more  sur- 
prising because  Cleveland  is  a  city  in  which 
there  has  been  no  end  of  civic  discussion  and 
progressive  human-welfare  effort.  The  extra- 
ordinary value  of  civic  education  in  the  ele- 
mentary school,  as  a  means  of  furthering  civic 
welfare,  should  have  received  more  decided 
recognition. 

The  elementary  teachers  and  principals  of 
Cleveland  might  profitably  make  such  a  civic 
survey  as  that  made  in  Cincinnati  as  the 
method  of  discovering  the  topics  that  should 

62 


enter  into  a  grammar  grade  course.  The  heavy 
emphasis  upon  this  subject  should  be  reserved 
for  the  later  grades  of  the  elementary  school. 

In  the  high  schools,  a  little  is  being  accom- 
plished. In  the  academic  high  schools,  those 
who  take  the  classical  course  receive  no  civics 
whatever.  It  is  not  even  elective  for  them. 
Those  who  take  the  scientific  or  Enghsh  courses 
may  take  civics  as  a  half-year  elective.  In  the 
technical  high  schools  it  is  required  of  all  for  a 
half-year.  The  course  is  offered  only  in  the 
senior  year,  except  in  the  High  School  of  Com- 
merce, where  it  is  offered  in  the  third.  As  a 
result  of  these  various  circumstances,  the  ma- 
jority of  students  who  enter  and  complete  the 
course  in  the  high  schools  of  Cleveland  re- 
ceive no  civic  training  whatever — ^not  even  the 
inadequate  half-year  of  work  that  is  available 
for  a  few. 

Whether  the  deficiencies  here  pointed  out  are 
serious  or  not  depends  in  large  measure  upon 
the  character  of  the  other  social  subjects,  such 
as  history  and  geography.  If  these  are  developed 
in  full  and  concrete  ways,  they  illumine  large 
numbers  of  our  difficult  social  problems.  It  is 
probable  that  the  larger  part  of  the  informa- 
tional portions  of  civic  training  should  be 
imparted  through  these  other  social  subjects. 
Wliether  very  much  of  this  is  actually  done  at 

63 


present  is  doubtful;  for  the  history  teaching, 
as  has  akeady  been  noted,  is  much  under- 
developed, and  while  somewhat  further  ad- 
vanced, geography  work  is  still  far  from  ade- 
quate at  the  time  this  report  is  written. 


64 

1 


GEOGRAPHY 

Geography  in  Cleveland  is  given  the  customary 
amount  of  time,  though  it  is  distributed  over 
the  grades  in  a  somewhat  unusual  way.  It  is 
exceptionally  heavy  in  the  intermediate  grades 
and  correspondingly  hght  in  the  grammar 
grades.  As  geography,  like  all  other  subjects, 
is  more  and  more  humanized  and  socialized 
in  its  reference,  much  more  time  will  be  called 
for  in  the  last  two  grammar  grades. 

TABLE  9.— TIME  GIVEN  TO  GEOGRAPHY 


Hours  per  year 

Per  cent  of  grade  time 

Grade 

Cleveland 

50  cities 

Cleveland 

50  cities 

1 

0 

16 

0.0 

1.8 

2 

0 

7 

0.0 

0.8 

3 

28 

50 

3.2 

5.4 

4 

101 

83 

11.4 

8.5 

5 

125 

102 

14.3 

11.2 

6 

125 

107 

14.3 

11.0 

7 

57 

98 

6.4 

9.9 

S 

o/ 

76 

6.4 

7.6 

Total 

493 

539 

7.2 

7.1 

As  laid  out  in  the  manual  now  superseded,  and 
as  observed  in  the  regular  classrooms,  the  work 
has  been  forbiddingly  formal.  In  the  main  it 
has  consisted  of  the  teacher  assigning  to  the 
5  65 


pupils  a  certain  number  of  paragraphs  or  pages 
in  the  textbook  as  the  next  lesson,  and  then 
questioning  them  next  day  to  ascertain  how 
much  of  this  printed  material  they  have  re- 
membered and  how  well.  It  has  not  consisted 
of  stimulating  and  guiding  the  children  toward 
intelligent  inquisitiveness  and  inquiring  inter- 
est as  to  the  world,  and  the  skies  above,  and 
waters  round  about,  and  the  conditions  of 
nature  that  limit  and  shape  the  development  of 
mankind. 

That  the  latter  is  the  proper  end  of  geo- 
graphical teaching  is  being  recognized  in  de- 
veloping the  new  course  of  study  in  this  sub- 
ject. Industries,  commerce,  agriculture,  and 
modes  of  living  are  becoming  the  centers  about 
which  geographic  thought  and  experience  are 
gathered.  The  best  work  now  being  done  here 
is  thoroughly  modern.  Unfortunately  it  is  not 
yet  great  in  amount  in  even  the  best  of  the 
schools,  still  less  in  the  majority.  But  the  direc- 
tion of  progress  is  unmistakable  and  unques- 
tionably correct. 

As  in  the  reading,  so  in  geography,  right  de- 
velopment of  the  course  of  study  must  depend 
in  large  measure  upon  the  material  equipment 
that  is  at  the  same  time  provided.  It  sounds  like 
a  legitimate  evasion  to  say  that  education  is  a 
spiritual  process,  and  that  good  teachers  and 

66 


willing,  obedient,  and  industrious  pupils  are 
about  all  that  is  required.  As  a  matter  of  fact, 
just  as  modern  business  has  found  it  necessary 
to  install  one-hundred-dollar  typewriters  to 
take  the  place  of  the  penny  quill  pens,  so  must 
education,  to  be  efficient,  develop  and  employ 
the  elaborate  tools  needed  by  new  and  complex 
modern  conditions,  and  set  aside  the  tools  that 
were  adequate  in  a  simpler  age.  The  proper 
teaching  of  geography  requires  an  abundance  of 
reading  materials  of  the  type  that  will  permit 
pupils  to  enter  vividly  into  the  varied  experience 
of  all  classes  of  people  in  all  parts  of  the  world. 
In  the  supplementary  books  now  furnished  the 
schools,  only  a  beginning  has  been  made.  The 
schools  need  10  times  as  much  geographical 
reading  as  that  now  found  in  the  best  equipped 
school. 

It  would  be  well  to  drop  the  term  ''supple- 
mentary." This  reading  should  be  the  basic 
geographic  experience,  the  fundamental  instru- 
ment of  the  teaching.  All  else  is  supplementary. 
The  textbook  then  becomes  a  reference  book  of 
maps,  charts,  summaries,  and  a  treatment  for 
the  sake  of  perspective.  Maps,  globes,  pictures, 
stereoscopes,  stereopticon,  moving-picture  ma- 
chine, models,  diagrams,  and  museum  materials, 
are  all  for  the  purpose  of  developing  ideas  and 
imagery  of  details.   The  reading  should  become 

67 


and  remain  fundamental  and  central.  The 
quantity  required  is  so  great  as  to  make  it 
necessary  for  the  city  to  furnish  the  books. 
While  the  various  other  things  enumerated  are 
necessary  for  complete  effectiveness,  many  of 
them  could  well  wait  until  the  reading  materials 
are  sufficiently  supplied. 

In  the  high  schools  the  clear  tendency  is  to 
introduce  more  of  the  industrial  and  com- 
mercial geography  and  to  diminish  the  time 
given  to  the  less  valuable  physiography.  The 
development  is  not  yet  vigorous.  The  high 
school  geography  departments,  so  far  as  ob- 
served, have  not  yet  altogether  attained  the 
social  point  of  view.  But  they  are  moving  in 
that  direction.  On  the  one  hand,  they  now  need 
stimulation;  and  on  the  other,  to  be  supplied 
with  the  more  advanced  kinds  of  such  material 
equipment  as  already  suggested  for  the  elemen- 
tary schools. 


68 


DRAWING  AND  APPLIED  ART 

The  elementary  schools  are  giving  the  usual 
proportion  of  time  to  drawing  and  applied  art. 
The  time  is  distributed,  however,  in  a  some- 
what unusual,  but  probably  justifiable,  manner. 
Whereas  the  subject  usually  receives  more  time 
in  the  primary  grades  than  in  the  grammar 
grades,  in  Cleveland,  in  quite  the  reverse  way, 
the  subject  receives  its  greatest  emphasis  in 
the  higher  grades. 

TABLE  10.— TIME  GIVEN  TO  DRAWING 


Hours  per  year 

Per  cent  of  grade  time 

Grade 

Cleveland 

50  cities 

Cleveland 

50  cities 

1 

47 

98 

6.5 

11.3 

2 

47 

54 

5.3 

6.0 

3 

47 

56 

5.3 

6.2 

4 

47 

53 

5.3 

5.5 

5 

57 

50 

6.4 

5.2 

6 

57 

50 

6.4 

5.1 

7 

57 

50 

6.4 

5.0 

8 

57 

49 

6.4 

4.9 

Total 

416 

460 

6.1 

6.1 

Drawing  has  been  taught  in  Cleveland  as  a 
regular  portion  of  the  curriculum  since  1849. 
It  has  therefore  had  time  for  substantial  growth ; 
and  it  appears  to  have  been  successful.   Recent 

69 


developments  in  the  main  have  been  wholesome 
and  in  line  with  best  modern  progress.  The 
course  throughout  attempts  to  develop  an  under- 
standing and  appreciation  of  the  principles  of 
graphic  art  plus  ability  to  use  these  principles 
through  practical  application  in  constructive 
activities  of  an  endlessly  varied  sort. 

Occasionally  the  work  appears  falsetto  and 
even  sentimental.  It  is  often  applied  in  arti- 
ficial schoolroom  ways  to  things  without  signi- 
ficance. General  grade  teachers  cannot  be  spe- 
cialists in  the  multiplicity  of  things  demanded 
of  them;  it  is  not  therefore  surprising  that  they 
sometimes  lack  skill,  insight,  ingenuity,  and  re- 
sourcefulness. Too  often  the  teachers  do  not 
realize  that  the  study  of  drawing  and  design 
is  for  the  serious  purpose  of  giving  to  pupils 
a  language  and  form  of  thought  of  the  greatest 
practical  significance  in  our  present  age.  The 
result  is  a  not  infrequent  use  of  schoolroom 
exercises  that  do  not  greatly  aid  the  pupils 
as  they  enter  the  busy  world  of  practical  affairs. 

These  shortcomings  indicate  incompleteness 
in  the  development.  Where  the  teaching  is  at 
its  best  in  both  the  elementary  and  high  schools 
of  Cleveland,  the  work  exhibits  balanced  under- 
standing and  complete  modernness.  The  thing 
needed  is  further  expansion  of  the  best,  and  the 
extension  of  this  type  of  work  through  specially 

70 


trained  departmental  teachers  to  all  parts  of 
the  city. 

There  should  be  a  larger  amount  of  active 
co-operation  between  the  teachers  of  art  and 
design  and  the  teachers  of  manual  training;  also 
between  both  sets  of  teachers  and  the  general 
community. 


71  ! 

I 
I 


MANUAL     TRAINING     AND     HOUSEHOLD 
ARTS 

In  the  grammar  grades  manual  and  household 
training  receives  an  average  proportion  of  the 
time.  In  the  grades  before  the  seventh,  the  sub- 
ject receives  considerably  less  than  the  usual 
amount  of  time. 

TABLE  11.— TIME  GIVEN  TO  MANUAL  TRAINING 


Hours  per  year 

Per  cent  of  grade  time 

Grade 

Cleveland 

50  cities 

Cleveland 

50  cities 

1 

32 

42 

4.3 

4.8 

2 

32 

47 

3.5 

5.1 

3 

32 

40 

3.5 

4.5 

4 

32 

45 

3.5 

4.6 

5 

38 

50 

4.3 

5.2 

6 

38 

57 

4.3 

5.8 

7 

63 

72 

7.1 

7.1 

8 

63 

74 

7.1 

7.4 

Total 

330 

427 

4.8 

5.6 

It  is  easy  to  see  the  social  and  educational  justi- 
fication of  courses  in  sewing,  cooking,  house- 
hold sanitation,  household  decoration,  etc., 
for  the  girls.  They  assist  in  the  training  for 
complicated  vocational  activities  performed  in 
some  degree  at  least  by  most  women.  Where 
women  are  so  situated  that  they  do  not  actually 

72 


perform  them,  they  need,  for  properly  super- 
vising others  and  for  making  intelhgible  and 
appreciative  use  of  the  labors  of  others,  a  con- 
siderable understanding  of  these  various  matters. 

Where  this  work  for  girls  is  at  its  best  in 
Cleveland,  it  appears  to  be  of  a  superior  char- 
acter. Those  who  are  in  charge  of  the  best  are 
in  a  position  to  advise  as  to  further  extensions 
and  developments.  It  is  not  difficult  to  discern 
certain  of  these.  It  would  appear,  for  example, 
that  sewing  should  find  some  place  at  least  in 
the  work  of  seventh  and  eighth  grades.  The 
girl  who  does  not  go  on  to  high  school  is  greatly 
in  need  of  more  advanced  training  in  sewing 
than  can  be  given  in  the  sixth  grade.  Each 
building  having  a  household  arts  room  should 
possess  a  sewing  machine  or  two,  at  the  very 
least.  The  academic  high  schools  are  now  plan- 
ning to  offer  courses  in  domestic  science.  As  in 
the  technical  high  schools,  all  of  this  work 
should  involve  as  large  a  degree  of  normal 
responsibility  as  possible. 

We  omit  discussion  here  of  the  specialized 
vocational  training  of  women,  since  this  is 
handled  in  other  reports  of  the  Survey. 

When  we  turn  to  the  manual  training  of  the 
boys,  we  are  confronted  with  problems  of  much 
greater  difficulty.  Women's  household  occupa- 
tions, so  far  as  retained  in  the  home,  are  un- 

73 


specialized.  Each  well-trained  household  worker 
does  or  supervises  much  the  same  range  of 
things  as  every  other.  To  give  the  entire  range 
of  household  occupations  to  all  girls  is  a  simple 
and  logical  arrangement. 

But  man's  labor  is  greatly  specialized  through- 
out. There  is  no  large  remnant  of  unspecialized 
labor  common  to  all,  as  in  the  case  of  women. 
To  all  girls  we  give  simply  this  unspecialized 
remnant,  since  it  is  large  and  important.  But 
in  the  case  of  men  the  unspecialized  field  has 
disappeared.  There  is  nothing  of  labor  to  give 
to  boys  except  that  which  has  become  special- 
ized. 

A  fundamental  problem  arises.  Shall  we  give 
boys  access  to  a  variety  of  specialized  occupa- 
tions so  that  they  may  become  acquainted, 
through  responsible  performance,  with  the  wide 
and  diversified  field  of  man's  labor?  Or  shall 
we  give  them  some  less  specialized  sample  out 
of  that  diversified  field  so  that  they  may  obtain, 
through  contact  and  experience,  some  knowledge 
of  the  things  that  make  up  the  world  of  pro- 
ductive labor? 

Cleveland's  reply,  to  judge  from  actual  prac- 
tices, is  that  a  single  sample  will  be  sufficient 
for  all  except  those  who  attend  technical  and 
special  schools.  The  city  has  therefore  chosen 
joinery  and  cabinet-making  as  this  sample.    In 

74 


the  fifth  and  sixth  grades  work  begins  in  simple 
knife-work  for  an  hour  a  week  under  the  direc- 
tion of  women  teachers.  In  the  seventh  and 
eighth  grades  it  becomes  benchwork  for  an 
hour  and  a  half  per  week,  and  is  taught  by  a 
special  manual  training  teacher,  always  a  man. 
In  the  academic  high  schools  the  courses  in 
joinery  and  cabinet-making  bring  the  pupils  to 
greater  proficiency,  but  do  not  greatly  extend 
the  course  in  width. 

Much  of  this  work  is  of  a  rather  formal 
character,  apparently  looking  toward  that  man- 
ual disciphne  formerly  called  '^  training  of  eye 
and  hand,"  instead  of  consciously  answering 
to  the  demands  of  social  purposes.  The  regular 
teachers  look  upon  the  fifth  and  sixth  grade  sloyd 
which  they  teach  with  no  great  enthusiasm. 
Seventh  and  eighth  grade  teachers  do  not 
greatly  value  the  work. 

The  household  arts  courses  for  the  girls  have 
social  purposes  in  view.  As  a  result  they  are 
kept  vitalized,  and  are  growing  increasingly 
vital  in  the  work  of  the  city.  Is  it  not  possible 
also  to  vitaHze  the  manual  training  of  the  boys — 
unspeciahzed  pre-vocational  training,  we  ought 
to  call  it — by  giving  it  social  purpose? 

The  principal  of  one  of  the  academic  high 
schools  emphasized  in  conversation  the  value 
of  manual  training  for  vocational  guidance — 

75 


a  social  purpose.  It  permitted  boys,  he  said,  to 
try  themselves  out  and  to  find  their  vocational 
tastes  and  aptitudes.  The  purpose  is  undoubt- 
edly a  valid  one.  The  limitation  of  the  method 
is  that  joinery  and  cabinet-making  cannot  help 
a  boy  to  try  himself  out  for  metal  work,  print- 
ing, gardening,  tailoring,  or  commercial  work. 

If  vocational  guidance  is  to  be  a  controlling 
social  purpose,  the  manual  training  work  will 
have  to  be  made  more  diversified  so  that  one 
can  try  out  his  tastes  and  abilities  in  a  number 
of  lines.  And,  moreover,  each  kind  of  work  must 
be  kept  as  much  like  responsible  work  out  in 
the  world  as  possible.  In  keeping  work  normal, 
the  main  thing  is  that  the  pupils  bear  actual 
responsibility  for  the  doing  of  actual  work. 
This  is  rather  difficult  to  arrange;  but  it  is 
necessary  before  the  activities  can  be  lifted 
above  the  level  of  the  usual  manual  training 
shop.  The  earUest  stages  of  the  training  will 
naturally  be  upon  what  is  little  more  than  a 
play  level.  It  is  well  for  schools  to  give  free 
rein  to  the  constructive  instinct  and  to  provide 
the  fullest  and  widest  possible  opportunities 
for  its  exercise.  But  if  boys  are  to  try  out  their 
aptitudes  for  work  and  their  ability  to  bear 
responsibility  in  work,  then  they  must  try 
themselves  out  on  the  work  level.  Let  the  man- 
ual training  actually  look  toward  vocational 

76 


guidance;  the  social  purpose  involved  will 
vitalize  the  work. 

There  is  a  still  more  comprehensive  social 
purpose  which  the  city  should  consider.  Owing 
to  the  interdependence  of  human  affairs,  men 
need  to  be  broadly  informed  as  to  the  great 
world  of  productive  labor.  Most  of  our  civic 
and  social  problems  are  at  bottom  industrial 
problems.  Just  as  we  use  industrial  history  and 
industrial  geography  as  means  of  giving  youth 
a  wide  vision  of  the  fields  of  man's  work,  so 
must  we  also  use  actual  practical  activities  as 
means  of  making  him  familiar  in  a  concrete 
way  with  materials  and  processes  in  their  de- 
tails, with  the  nature  of  work,  and  with  the 
nature  of  responsibility.  On  the  play  level, 
therefore,  constructive  activities  should  be 
richly  diversified.  This  diversity  of  opportunity 
should  continue  to  the  work  level.  One  cannot 
really  know  the  nature  of  work  or  of  work 
responsibility  except  as  it  is  learned  through 
experience.  Let  the  manual  training  adopt  the 
social  purpose  here  mentioned,  provide  the 
opportunities,  means,  and  processes  that  it 
demands,  and  the  work  will  be  wondrously 
vitalized. 

It  is  well  to  mention  that  the  program  sug- 
gested is  a  complicated  one  on  the  side  of  its 
theory  and  a  difficult  one  on  the  side  of  its 

77 


practice.  In  the  planning  it  is  well  to  look  to 
the  whole  program.  In  the  work  itself  it  is  well 
to  remember  that  one  step  at  a  time,  and  that 
secure,  is  a  good  way  to  avoid  stumbling. 

Printing  and  gardening  are  two  things  that 
might  well  be  added  to  the  manual  training 
program.  Both  are  already  in  the  schools  in 
some  degree.  They  might  well  be  considered 
as  desirable  portions  of  the  manual  training 
of  all.  They  lend  themselves  rather  easily  to 
responsible  performance  on  the  work  level. 
There  are  innumerable  things  that  a  school 
can  print  for  use  in  its  work.  In  so  doing,  pupils 
can  be  given  something  other  than  play.  Also 
in  the  home  gardening,  supervised  for  edu- 
cational purposes,  it  is  possible  to  introduce 
normal  work-motives.  By  the  time  the  city 
has  developed  these  two  things  it  will  have  at 
the  same  time  developed  the  insight  necessary 
for  attacking  more  difficult  problems. 


78 


ELEMENTARY  SCIENCE 

This  subject  finds  no  place  upon  the  program. 
No  elaborate  argument  should  be  required  to 
convince  the  authorities  in  charge  of  the  school 
system  of  a  modern  city  like  Cleveland  that  in 
this  ultra-scientific  age  the  children  who  do  not 
go  beyond  the  elementary  school — and  they 
constitute  a  majority — need  to  possess  a  work- 
ing knowledge  of  the  rudiments  of  science  if 
they  are  to  make  their  lives  effective. 

The  future  citizens  of  Cleveland  need  to 
know  something  about  electricity,  heat,  expan- 
sion and  contraction  of  gases  and  solids,  the 
mechanics  of  machines,  distillation,  common 
chemical  reactions  and  a  host  of  other  things 
about  science  that  are  bound  to  come  up  in  the 
day's  work  in  their  various  activities. 

Considered  from  the  practical  standpoint  of 
actual  human  needs,  the  present  almost  com- 
plete neglect  of  elementary  science  is  inde- 
fensible. The  minute  amount  of  such  teaching 
now  introduced  in  the  language  lessons  for 
composition  purposes  is  so  small  as  to  be  almost 
neghgible.  The  topics  are  not  chosen  for  their 
bearing  upon  human  needs.  There  is  no  labora- 
tory work. 

Naturally  much  of  the  elementary  science  to 
79 


be  taught  should  be  introduced  in  connection 
with  practical  situations  in  kitchen,  school 
garden,  shop,  sanitation,  etc.  Certainly  the 
applied  science  should  be  as  full  as  possible. 
But  preliminary  to  this  there  ought  to  be  sys- 
tematic presentation  of  the  elements  of  various 
sciences  in  rapid  ways  for  overview  and  per- 
spective. 

To  try  to  teach  the  elements  only  'inci- 
dentally" as  they  are  applied  is  to  fail  to  see 
them  in  their  relations,  and  therefore  to  fail 
in  understanding  them.  Intensive  studies  by 
way  of  filling  in  the  details  may  well  be  in  part 
incidental.  But  systematic  superficial  intro- 
ductory work  is  needed  by  way  of  giving  pupils 
their  bearings  in  the  various  fields  of  science. 
The  term  '^  superficial "  is  used  advisedly.  There 
is  an  introductory  stage  in  the  teaching  of  every 
such  subject  when  the  work  should  be  super- 
ficial and  extensive.  This  stage  paves  the  way 
for  depth  and  intensity,  which  must  be  reached 
before  education  is  accomplished. 


80 


HIGH  SCHOOL  SCIENCE 

Having  no  elementary  science  in  the  grades, 
one  naturally  expects  to  find  in  the  high  school 
a  good  introductory  course  in  general  science, 
similar  in  organization  to  that  suggested  for  the 
elementary  stage.  But  nowhere  is  there  any- 
thing that  even  remotely  suggests  such  a  course. 
Students  who  take  the  classical  course  get 
their  first  glimpse  of  modern  science  in  the  third 
or  fourth  high  school  year,  when  they  have  an 
opportunity  to  elect  a  course  in  physics  or 
chemistry  of  the  usual  traditional  stamp.  No 
opportunity  is  given  them  for  so  much  as  a 
ghmpse  of  the  world's  biological  background. 
Those  who  take  the  scientific  or  English  course 
have  access  to  physical  geography  and  to  an 
anemic  biological  course  entitled,  '^  Physiology 
and  Botany,"  which  few  take.  Students  of  the 
High  School  of  Commerce  have  their  first  con- 
tacts with  modern  science  in  a  required  course 
in  chemistry  in  the  third  year,  and  elective 
physics  in  the  fourth  year.  In  the  technical 
high  schools  the  first  science  for  the  boys  is 
systematic  chemistry  in  the  second  year  and 
physics  in  the  third.  They  have  no  opportunity 
of  contact  with,  any  biological  science.  The 
6  ^    81 


girls  have  ^^  botany  and  physiology"  in  their 
first  year. 

The  city  needs  to  organize  preliminary  work 
in  general  science  for  the  purpose  of  paving 
the  way  to  the  more  intensive  science  work  of 
the  later  years.  A  portion  of  this  should  be 
found  in  the  elementary  school  and  taught 
by  departmental  science  teachers;  and  a  por- 
tion in  the  first  year  of  the  high  school.  As 
junior  high  schools  are  developed,  most  of  this 
work  should  be  included  in  their  courses. 

As  to  the  later  organization  of  the  work,  the 
two  technical  high  schools  clearly  indicate  the 
modern  trend  of  relating  the  science  teaching  to 
practical  labors.  What  is  needed  is  a  wider 
expansion  of  this  phase  of  the  work  without 
losing  sight  of  the  need  at  the  same  time  for  a 
systematic  and  general  teaching  of  the  sciences. 
It  is  a  difficult  task  to  make  the  science  teaching 
vital  and  modern  for  the  academic  high  schools, 
since  they  have  so  few  contacts  with  the  prac- 
tical labors  of  the  world.  Cleveland  needs  to 
see  its  schools  more  as  a  part  of  the  world  of 
affairs,  and  not  so  much  as  a  hothouse  nursery 
isolated  from  the  world  and  its  vital  interests. 


82 


PHYSIOLOGY  AND  HYGIENE 

Teaching  in  matters  pertaining  to  health  is 
given  but  a  meagre  amount  of  time  in  the  ele- 
mentary schools.  While  the  school  program 
shows  one  15-minute  period  each  week  in  the 
first  four  grades,  and  one  30-minute  period 
each  week  in  the  four  upper  grades,  it  appears 
that  in  actual  practice  the  subject  receives  even 
less  time  than  this.  In  the  attempt  to  observe 
the  class  work  in  physiology  and  hygiene,  a 
member  of  the  Survey  staff  went  on  one  day  to 
four  different  classrooms  at  the  hour  scheduled 
on  the  program.  In  two  cases  the  time  was 
given  over  to  grammar,  in  one  to  arithmetic, 
and  in  one  to  music.  This  represents  practice 
that  is  not  unusual.  The  subject  gets  pushed 
off  the  program  by  one  of  the  so-called  ''essen- 
tials." It  is  difficult  to  see  why  health-training 
is  not  an  essential.  In  a  letter  to  the  School 
Board,  February  8,  1915,  Superintendent  Fred- 
erick wrote : 

''The  teaching  of  physiology  and  hygiene 
should  become  a  matter  of  serious  moment  in 
our  course  of  study.  At  present  it  is  not  sys- 
tematically presented  in  the  elementary  schools : 
and  in  the  high  schools  it  is  an  elective  study 
only  in  the  senior  year.    My  judgment  is  that 

83 


• 


it  should  become  a  definite  part  of  the  program, 
as  a  required  study  in  the  seventh  and  eighth 
grades/' 

The  small  nominal  amount  of  time  as  com- 
pared with  the  time  usually  expended  is  par- 
tially shown  in  Table  12.  Professor  Holmes' 
figures  for  the  50  cities  include  elementary 
science  along  with  the  physiology  and  hygiene. 

TABLE  12.— TIME  GIVEN  TO  SCIENCE,  PHYSIOLOGY,  HYGIENE 


Grade 

Hours  per  year 

Per  cent  of  grade  time 

Cleveland 

50  cities 

Cleveland 

50  cities 

1 
2 
3 
4 
5 
6 
7 
8 

10 
10 
10 
10 
19 
19 
19 
19 

37 
41 
40 
37 
34 
40 
45 
57 

1.3 
1.1 
1.1 
1.1 
2.1 
2.1 
2.1 
2.1 

4.3 
4.5 
4.4 
3.8 
3.5 
4.2 
4.5 
5.7 

Total 

116 

331 

1.7 

4.4 

In  addition  to  the  work  of  the  regular  teachers 
in  this  subject,  a  certain  amount  of  instruction 
is  given  by  the  school  physicians  and  nurses. 
In  his  report  to  the  Board,  1913,  Dr.  Peterson 
writes : 

''Health  instruction  is  given  by  doctors  and 
nurses  in  personal  talks  to  pupils,  talks  to  whole 
schools,  tooth-brush  drills  conducted  in  many 

84 


schools,  and  in  \dsits  into  the  homes  by  the 
nurses.  Conscious  effort  is  continually  made  by 
all  doctors  and  nurses  to  inspire  to  right  li\ing 
all  of  the  children  with  whom  they  come  in  con- 
tact." 

Looking  somewhat  to  the  future,  it  can  be 
affirmed  that  the  school  physicians  and  nurses 
are  the  ones  who  ought  to  give  the  teaching  in 
this  subject.  After  giving  the  prehminary  ideas 
in  the  classrooms,  they  alone  are  in  position 
to  follow  up  the  various  matters  and  see  that 
the  ideas  are  assimilated  through  being  put 
into  practice  both  at  school  and  at  home.  At 
present,  however,  16  physicians  and  27  nurses 
have  75,000  children  to  inspect,  of  whom  more 
than  half  have  defects  that  require  following 
up.  It  is  a  physical  impossibiUty  for  them  to  do 
much  teaching  until  the  force  of  school  nurses 
is  greatly  increased. 

For  the  present  certain  things  may  well  be 
done: 

1.  A  course  in  hygiene  and  sanitation,  based 
upon  an  abundance  of  reading,  should  be 
drawTi  up  and  taught  by  the  regular  teachers  in 
the  grammar  school  grades.  This  course  should 
be  looked  upon  as  merely  preliminary  to  the 
more  substantial  portions  of  education  in  this 
field.  The  physicians  and  nurses  should  select 
the  readings  and  supervise  the  course  to  see 

85 


that  the  materials  are  covered  conscientiously 
and  not  slighted. 

2.  The  schools  should  arrange  for  practical 
applications  of  the  preparatory  knowledge  in 
as  many  ways  as  possible.  Children  in  relays 
can  look  after  the  ventilation,  temperature, 
humidity,  dust,  light,  and  other  sanitary  con- 
ditions of  school-rooms  and  grounds.  They 
can  make  sanitary  surveys  of  their  home  dis- 
trict ;  engage  in  anti-fly,  anti-mosquito,  anti-dirt, 
and  other  campaigns;  and  report — for  credit 
possibly — practical  sanitary  and  hygienic  ac- 
tivities carried  on  outside  of  school.  Only  as 
knowledge  is  put  to  work  is  it  assimilated  and 
the  prime  purpose  of  education  accomplished. 

3.  The  corps  of  school  nurses  should  be  grad- 
ually enlarged,  and  after  a  time  they  can  be 
given  any  needed  training  for  teaching  that  will 
enable  them,  as  the  work  is  departmentalized 
in  the  grammar  grades,  to  become  departmental 
teachers  in  this  subject  for  a  portion  of  their 
time.  Their  ''follow-up"  work  will  always  give 
them  their  chief  educational  opportunity;  but 
to  prepare  for  this  the  classwork  must  give  some 
systematized  preparatory  ideas. 

In  the  high  schools,  training  of  boys  in  hy- 
giene and  sanitation  is  little  developed.  The 
only  thing  offered  them  is  an  elective  half-year 
course  in  physiology  in  the  senior  year  of  the 

86 


scientific  and  English  courses  in  the  academic 
high  schools.  In  the  classical  course,  and  in  the 
technical  and  commercial  schools,  they  have  not 
even  this.  Physiology  is  required  of  girls  in  the 
technical  schools,  and  is  elective  in  all  but  the 
classical  course  in  the  others.  "VMiile  in  one  or 
two  of  the  high  schools  there  is  training  in 
actual  hygiene  and  sanitation,  in  most  cases  it 
is  physiology  and  anatomy  of  a  superficial  pre- 
liminary tj^pe  which  is  not  put  to  use  and  which 
therefore  mostly  fails  of  normal  assimilation. 
The  things  recommended  for  the  elementary 
schools  need  to  be  carried  out  in  the  high 
schools  also. 


87 


PHYSICAL  TRAINING 

The  city  gives  slightly  more  than  the  usual 
amount  of  time  to  physical  training  in  the  ele- 
mentary schools.  Except  for  first  and  second 
grades,  where  a  slightly  larger  amount  is  set 
aside  for  the  purpose,  pupils  are  expected  to 
receive  one  hour  per  week. 


TABLE  13.— TIME  GIVEN  TO  PHYSICAL  TRAINING 

Hours  per  year 

Per  cent  of  grade  time 

Grade 

Cleveland 

50  cities 

Cleveland 

50  cities 

1 

63 

46 

8.7 

5.4 

2 

54 

41 

6.2 

4.5 

3 

38 

40 

4.4 

4.5 

4 

38 

40 

4.3 

4.2 

5 

38 

38 

4.3 

4.0 

6 

38 

40 

4.3 

4.2 

7 

38 

38 

4.3 

3.7 

8 

38 

39 

4.3 

4.0 

Total 

345 

322 

5.0 

4.2 

Even  though  it  is  a  httle  above  the  average 
amount  of  time,  it  is  nevertheless  too  little. 
A  week  consists  of  168  hours.  After  deducting 
12  hours  a  day  for  sleep,  meals,  etc.,  there 
remain  84  hours  per  week  to  be  used.  In  a  state 
of  nature  this  was  largely  used  for  physical 
play.    Under  the  artificial  conditions  of  modern 

88 


city  life,  the  nature  of  children  is  not  changed. 
They  still  need  huge  amounts  of  active  physical 
play  for  wholesome  development.  Most  of  this 
they  will  get  away  from  the  school,  but  as  urban 
conditions  take  away  proper  play  opportunities, 
the  loss  in  large  degree  has  to  be  made  good  by 
systematic  community  effort  in  estabUshing  and 
maintaining  playgrounds  and  playrooms  for 
12  months  in  the  year.  The  school  and  its 
immediate  envuonment  is  the  logical  place  for 
this  development. 

The  course  of  study  lays  out  a  series  of 
obsolescent  Swedish  gymnastics  for  each  of  the 
years.  The  w^ork  observed  was  mechanical, 
perfunctory,  and  lacking  in  vitahty.  Sand- 
wiched in  between  exhausting  intellectual  drill, 
it  has  the  value  of  gi\dng  a  Uttle  rehef  and  rest. 
This  is  good,  but  it  is  not  sufficiently  positive 
to  be  called  physical  training. 

Very  desirable  improvements  in  the  course 
are  being  advocated  by  the  directors  and  super- 
visors of  the  work.  They  are  recommending, 
and  introducing  where  conditions  will  permit, 
the  use  of  games,  athletics,  folk  dances,  etc. 
The  movements  should  be  promoted  by  the 
city  in  every  possible  way.  At  present  the 
regular  teachers  as  a  rule  have  not  the  neces- 
sary point  of  view  and  do  not  sufficiently  value 
the  work.  Special  teachers  and  play  leaders 
89 


need  to  be  employed.  Material  facilities  should 
be  extended  and  improved.  Some  of  the  school 
grounds  are  too  small;  the  surfacing  is  not 
always  well  adapted  to  play;  often  apparatus 
is  not  supplied;  indoor  playrooms  are  insuffi- 
cient in  number,  etc.  These  various  things  need 
to  be  supplied  before  the  physical  training  cur- 
riculum can  be  modernized. 

In  the  high  schools  two  periods  of  physical 
training  per  week  in  academic  and  commercial 
schools,  and  thi^ee  or  four  periods  per  week  in 
the  technical  schools,  are  prescribed  for  the 
first  two  years  of  the  course.  In  the  last  two 
years  it  is  omitted  from  the  program  in  all  but 
the  High  School  of  Commerce,  where  it  is  op- 
tional. With  one  or  two  exceptions,  the  little 
given  is  mainly  indoor  gymnastics  of  a  formal 
sort  owing  to  the  general  lack  of  sufficiently 
large  athletic  fields,  tennis  courts,  baseball  dia- 
monds, and  other  necessary  facilities. 

Special  commendation  must  be  accorded  the 
home-room  basis  of  organizing  the  athletics 
of  the  technical  high  schools.  Probably  no 
plan  anjrvvhere  employed  comes  nearer  to  reach- 
ing the  entire  student  body  in  a  vital  way. 

With  the  exceptions  referred  to,  it  seems  that 
the  city  has  not  sufficiently  considered  the  in- 
dispensable need  of  huge  amounts  of  physical 
play  on  the  part  of  adolescents  as  the  basis  of 

90 


full  and  life-long  physical  vitality.  High  school 
students  represent  the  best  youth  of  the  com- 
munity. Their  efficiency  is  certainly  the  great- 
est single  asset  of  the  new  generation.  There 
are  scores  of  other  expensive  things  that  the 
city  can  better  afford  to  neglect.  The  one  thing 
it  can  least  afford  to  sacrifice  on  the  altar  of 
economy  is  the  vitality  of  its  citizens  of  tomor- 
row. 


91 


MUSIC 

In  the  elementary  schools  Cleveland  is  giving 
considerably  more  than  the  average  amount  of 
time  to  music.  In  the  high  schools,  except  for 
a  one-hour  optional  course  in  the  High  School 
of  Commerce,  the  subject  is  developed  only 
incidentally  and  given  no  credit.  It  is  entirely 
pertinent  to  inquire  why  music  should  be  so 
important  for  the  grammar  school  age  and  then 
lose  all  of  this  importance  as  soon  as  the  high 
school  is  reached. 


TABLE  14.— TIME  GIVEN 

TO  MUSIC 

Hours  per  year 

Per  cent  of  grade  time 

Grade 

Cleveland 

50  cities 

Cleveland 

50  cities 

1 

47 

45 

6.5 

5.2 

2 

54 

48 

6.1 

5.3 

3 

54 

47 

6.1 

5.1 

4 

54 

48 

6.1 

4.9 

5 

51 

45 

5.7 

4.7 

6 

51 

45 

5.7 

4.6 

7 

51 

45 

5.7 

4.4 

8 

51 

44 

5.7 

4.4 

Total 

413 

367 

6.0 

4.8 

The  probability  is  either  that  it  is  over-valued 
for  the  elementary  school  and  should  receive 
diminished  time;   or  it  is  under-valued  for  the 

92 


high  school  and  should  be  given  the  dignity  and 
the  consideration  of  a  credit  course,  as  it  is  in 
many  progressive  high  schools.  It  cannot  be 
urged  that  the  subject  is  finished  in  the  elemen- 
tary schools.  Pupils  in  fact  receive  only  an 
introductory  training  in  vocal  music.  The  whole 
field  of  instrumental  music  remains  untouched. 
It  seems  the  city  ought  to  consider  the  question 
of  whether  the  course  ought  not  to  be  much 
expanded  and  continued  throughout  the  high 
school  period  as  an  elective  subject.  However, 
in  considering  the  question  it  should  be  kept  in 
mind  that  there  are  very  many  things  of  more 
importance  and  of  far  more  pressing  immediate 
necessity. 


93 


FOREIGN  LANGUAGES 

German  has  long  been  taught  in  the  elementary 
schools.  Until  less  than  10  years  ago  it  was 
taught  in  all  grades  beginning  with  the  first. 
More  recently  it  has  been  confined  to  the  four 
upper  grades.  Beginning  with  the  present  year, 
it  is  taught  only  in  the  seventh  and  eighth 
grades.  The  situation  is  so  well  presented  in  the 
report  of  the  Educational  Commission  of  1906 
that  further  discussion  here  is  unnecessary. 
They  summarize  their  discussion  of  the  teaching 
of  German  in  the  elementary  schools  as  follows : 

^'Such  teaching  originated  in  a  nationalistic 
feeling  and  demand  on  the  part  of  German 
immigrants,  and  not  in  any  educational  or 
pedagogical  necessity. 

^'It  aimed  to  induce  the  children  of  Germans 
to  attend  the  public  schools,  where  they  would 
learn  English  and  be  sooner  Americanized. 

'Tor  15  years  [now  25  years]  past,  German 
immigration  has  almost  ceased,  and  other  Euro- 
pean nationalities,  as  the  Bohemians,  Poles,  and 
Italians,  have  taken  their  place  numerically. 

''The  children  of  the  earlier  German  immi- 
grants are  already  Americanized  and  use  the 
Enghsh  language  freely,  and  those  later  born, 
of  the  second  and  third  generations,  no  longer 

94 


need  to  be  taught  German  in  the  schools  be- 
ginning at  six  years  of  age. 

''It  is  demonstrated  by  experience  and  by 
abundant  testimony  that  children  neither  from 
German  nor  from  English-speaking  families 
really  learn  much  German  in  the  primary  and 
grammar  grades,  that  is,  from  six  to  13  years  of 
age. 

''Hence  the  Commission  reconmiends  that 
the  teaching  of  German  in  these  grades  be  dis- 
continued and  that  the  German  language  be 
taught  only  in  the  high  schools. 

"It  is  admitted  that  those  who  begin  German 
in  the  high  school,  after  the  second  year,  can 
keep  up  with  and  do  as  good  work  in  the  same 
classes  as  those  who  have  had  eight  years  of 
German  in  the  primary  and  grammar  grades 
and  two  years  in  the  high  schools." 

The  form  of  argument  that  once  was  valid  for 
including  German  in  the  elementary  course  of 
study  may  now  be  valid  for  Polish,  Hungarian, 
Bohemian  and  Italian,  for  the  children  of  the 
first  generation  of  these  nationalities.  Properly 
done,  it  is  a  means  of  preventing  the  children's 
drifting  from  the  parental  moorings.  After  the 
first  generation,  it  would  not  be  needed. 

It  is  impossible,  in  the  limited  space  at  our 
disposal,  to  discuss  comprehensively  so  com- 
plicated a  topic   as  foreign  languages  in  the 

95 


high  school.  One  group  of  educators  sturdily 
defends  the  traditional  classical  course,  with 
its  great  emphasis  on  Greek  and  Latin,  while 
another  group  as  urgently  insists  that  if  any 
foreign  languages  are  taught,  they  must  be  the 
modern  ones.  These  opposing  schools  of  thought 
are  profoundly  sincere  in  their  conflicting  be- 
liefs. Each  side  is  absolutely  certain  that  it  is 
right  and  is  unalterably  of  the  opinion  that  there 
is  no  other  side  of  the  question  to  be  even  so 
much  as  considered.  Anything  that  agrees 
with  its  own  side  is  based  on  reason;  anything 
opposed  is  but  ignorant  prejudice.  Under  the 
circumstances  the  disinterested  outsider  may 
well  suspect  that  where  there  is  so  much  sincerity 
and  conviction,  there  must  be  much  truth  on 
both  sides.    And  undoubtedly  this  is  the  case. 

Latin  is  a  living  language  in  our  country  in 
that  it  provides  half  of  our  vocabulary.  Pupils 
who  would  know  English  well  should  have  a 
good  knowledge  of  this  living  Latin.  If  the 
Latinists  would  shift  their  ground  to  this  living 
Latin  and  provide  means  of  teaching  it  fully 
and  effectively  for  modern  purposes,  it  is  pos- 
sible that  the  opposing  schools  of  thought 
might  here  find  common  ground  upon  which  all 
could  stand  with  some  degree  of  comfort  and 
toleration.  When  Latin  study  of  the  character 
here  suggested  is  devised,  it  ought  to  be  opened 

96 


up  to  the  students  of  all  courses  as  an  elective, 
so  that  it  could  be  taken  by  all  who  wish  a  full 
appreciation  and  understanding  of  their  semi- 
Latin  mother  tongue.  Such  a  study  ought  to 
be  required  of  the  clerical  students  of  the  High 
School  of  Commerce.  In  the  mean  time,  how- 
ever, all  will  have  to  wait  until  the  Latinists 
have  pro\4ded  the  plans  and  the  materials. 

In  the  new  so-called  English  course  in  the 
academic  high  schools  required  foreign  lan- 
guages are  omitted  entirely.  In  the  third  and 
fourth  years  German  or  Spanish  is  made  elective. 
This  gives  rise  to  several  questions.  If  the  for- 
eign language  is  studied  simply  as  preparation 
for  the  leisure  occupation  of  reading  its  hter- 
ature — the  only  value  of  the  course  in  the  case 
of  most  who  take  it — why  should  not  French  be 
elective  also?  By  far  the  largest  of  the  world's 
literatures,  outside  of  the  English  is  the  French. 
The  Spanish  has  but  a  small  hterature;  and 
while  Germany  has  excelled  in  many  things, 
belles-lettres  is  not  one  of  them.  Another 
question  relates  to  the  placing  of  these  electives. 
If  one  is  to  study  a  foreign  language  at  all,  it 
is  usually  thought  best  to  begin  earlier  than  the 
third  year  of  the  high  school,  so  as  to  finish  these 
simple  matters  that  can  be  done  by  children  and 
gain  time  in  the  later  years  for  the  more  com- 
plicated matters  that  require  mature  judgment. 
7  97 


DIFFERENTIATION  OF  COURSES 

Courses  of  training  based  upon  human  needs 
should  be  diversified  where  conditions  are 
diversified.  Uniform  courses  of  study  for  all 
schools  within  a  city  were  justifiable  in  a  former 
simpler  age,  when  the  schools  were  caring  only 
for  needs  that  were  common  to  all  classes. 
But  as  needs  have  differentiated  in  our 
large  industrial  cities,  courses  of  training  must 
also  become  differentiated.  In  Cleveland  this 
principle  has  been  recognized  in  organizing  the 
work  of  the  special  schools  and  classes.  For  all 
the  regular  elementary  schools,  however,  a  uni- 
form course  of  study  has  been  used.  Under  the 
present  administration,  principals  and  teachers 
are  nominally  permitted  wide  latitude  in  its 
administration. 

A  large  part  of  this  freedom  is  taken  away  by 
two  things.  One  is  the  use  by  the  city  of  the 
plan  of  leaving  textbooks  to  private  purchase. 
For  perfectly  obvious  reasons,  so  long  as  text- 
books are  privately  purchased,  a  uniform  series 
of  textbooks  must  be  definitely  prescribed  for 
the  entire  city.  Uniform  textbooks  do  not 
necessarily  enforce  a  uniform  curriculum.  In 
usual  practice,  however,  they  do  enforce  it  as 
completely  as  a  prescribed  uniform  course  of 

98 


study  manual.  As  the  schools  of  different  sec- 
tions of  the  city  are  allowed  to  experiment  and 
to  develop  variations  from  the  course  of  study, 
they  should  be  allowed  greater  freedom  in 
choosing  the  textbooks  that  will  best  serve  in 
teaching  their  courses. 

The  second  condition  enforcing  a  uniform 
course  of  study  in  certain  subjects  is  the  use  of 
uniform  examinations  in  those  subjects.  We 
would  merely  suggest  here  that  it  is  possible  to 
use  supervisory  examinations  without  making 
them  uniform  for  all  schools.  Different  types  of 
school  may  well  have  different  types  of  examina- 
tion. 

Different  social  classes  often  exist  within  the 
same  school.  Administrative  limitations  prob- 
ably must  prevent  the  use  of  more  than  one 
course  of  study  in  a  single  elementary  school. 
But  as  the  work  of  the  grammar  grades  is  de- 
partmentalized, and  as  junior  high  schools  are 
developed,  it  will  become  possible  to  offer 
alternative  courses  in  these  grades.  Those  prac- 
tically certain  of  going  on  to  higher  educational 
work  requiring  foreign  languages  and  higher 
mathematics  should  probably  be  permitted  to 
begin  these  studies  by  the  sixth  or  seventh 
grade.  On  the  other  hand,  those  who  are  prac- 
tically certain  to  drop  out  of  school  at  the  end 
of  the  grammar  grades  or  junior  high  school 
99 


should  have  full  opportunities  for  applied 
science,  applied  design,  practical  mathematics, 
civics,  hygiene,  vocational  studies,  etc.  When 
the  necessary  studies  are  once  organized  and 
departmental  work  introduced,  it  is  not  diffi- 
cult to  arrange  for  the  necessary  differentiation 
of  courses  in  the  same  school. 

Finally,  courses  of  study  should  provide  for 
children  of  differing  natural  ability.  Extra 
materials  and  opportunities  should  be  provided 
for  children  of  large  capacity;  and  abbreviated 
courses  for  those  of  less  than  normal  ability. 
In  departmentalized  grammar  grades  and  junior 
high  schools  this  can  be  taken  care  of  rather 
easily  by  permitting  the  brighter  pupils  to  carry 
more  studies  than  normal,  and  the  backward 
ones  a  smaller  number  than  normal.  Under 
the  present  elementary  school  organization  with 
classes  so  large  and  with  so  many  things  for  the 
teachers  to  do,  it  is  practically  impossible  to 
effect  such  desirable  differentiations. 


100 


SUMMARY 

1.  The  fundamental  social  point  of  view  of  this 
discussion  of  the  courses  of  study  of  the  Cleve- 
land schools  is  that  effective  teaching  is  prepar- 
ation for  adult  Hfe  through  participation  in  the 
activities  of  life. 

2.  The  schools  of  Cleveland  devote  far  more 
time  to  reading  than  do  those  of  the  average 
city.  In  too  large  measure  this  time  is  employed 
in  mastering  the  mechanics  of  reading  and  in 
the  analytical  study  of  the  manner  in  which  the 
words  are  combined  in  sentences  and  the  sen- 
tences in  paragraphs.  The  main  object  of  the 
reading  should  be  the  mastery  of  the  thought 
rather  than  the  study  of  the  construction. 
Through  it  the  children  should  gain  life-long 
habits  of  exploring,  through  reading,  the  great 
fields  of  history,  industry,  applied  science,  life 
in  other  lands,  travel,  invention,  biography, 
and  wholesome  fiction.  To  this  end  the  work 
should  be  made  more  extensive  and  less  in- 
tensive. As  an  indispensable  means  toward  this 
end  the  books  should  be  supplied  by  the  schools 
instead  of  being  purchased  by  the  parents. 

3.  The  teaching  of  spelling  should  aim  to 
give  the  pupils  complete  mastery  over  those 
words  which  they  need  to  use  in  writing  and  it 

101 


should  instil  in  them  the  permanent  habit  of 
watching  their  spelling  as  they  write.  Drill 
on  lists  of  isolated  words  should  give  way  to 
practice  in  spelling  correctly  every  word  in 
everything  written.  The  dictionary  habit 
should  be  cultivated,  and  every  written  lesson 
should  be  a  spelling  lesson. 

4.  The  time  devoted  to  language,  composi- 
tion, and  grammar  is  about  the  same  as  in  the 
average  city.  The  chief  result  of  the  work  as 
done  in  Cleveland  is  to  enable  the  pupil  to 
recite  well  on  textbook  grammar  and  to  pass 
examinations  in  the  subject.  The  work  in 
technical  grammar  should  be  continued  for  the 
purpose  of  giving  the  pupils  a  foundation  ac- 
quaintance with  forms,  terms,  relations,  and 
grammatical  perspective,  but  this  training 
need  not  be  so  extensive  and  intensive  as  at 
present.  The  time  saved  should  be  given  to  oral 
and  written  expression  in  connection  with  the 
reading  of  history,  geography,  industrial  studies, 
civics,  sanitation,  and  the  like.  Facility  and 
accuracy  in  oral  and  written  expression  are 
developed  through  practice  rather  than  through 
precept.  They  are  perfected  through  the  con- 
scious and  unconscious  imitation  of  good  models 
rather  than  through  the  advanced  study  of 
technical  grammar.  Only  as  knowledge  is  put 
to  work  is  it  really  learned  or  assimilated. 
102 


5.  Cleveland  gives  more  time  to  mathe- 
matics than  does  the  average  city.  The  con- 
tent of  courses  in  mathematics  is  to  be  de- 
termined by  human  needs.  A  fundamental 
need  of  our  scientific  age  is  more  accurate 
quantitative  thinking  about  our  vocations, 
civic  problems,  taxation,  income,  insurance,  ex- 
penditures, public  improvements,  and  the  mul- 
titude of  other  public  and  private  problems 
involving  quantities.  We  need  to  think  accu- 
rately and  easily  in  quantities,  proportions, 
forms,  and  relationships.  Arithmetic  teaching, 
like  the  teaching  of  penmanship,  is  for  the  pur- 
pose of  providing  tools  to  be  used  in  matters 
that  lie  beyond.  The  present  course  of  study  is 
of  superior  character,  providing  for  efficient 
elementary  training  and  dispensing  with  most 
of  the  things  of  httle  practical  use.  The  greatest 
improvement  in  the  work  is  to  be  found  in  its 
further  carrying  over  into  the  other  fields  of 
school  work  and  in  applying  it  in  other  classes 
as  well  as  in  the  arithmetic  class.  In  the  ad- 
vanced classes  mathematics  should  be  differ- 
entiated according  to  the  needs  of  different 
pupils.  Algebra  should  be  more  closely  related 
to  practical  matters  and  developed  in  connec- 
tion with  geometry  and  trigonometry. 

6.  History  receives  much  less  attention  in  this 
city  than  in  the  average  city.     The  character 

103 


of  the  work  is  really  indicated  by  the  last 
sentence  of  the  eighth-grade  history  assignment : 
^'The  text  of  our  book  should  be  thoroughly 
mastered."  The  work  is  too  brief,  abstract,  and 
barren  to  help  the  pupils  toward  an  understand- 
ing of  the  social,  political,  economic,  and 
industrial  problems  with  which  we  are  con- 
fronted. It  should  be  amply  supplemented  by 
a  wide  range  of  reading  on  social  welfare  topics. 
This  reading  should  be  biographical,  anecdotal, 
thrilling  dramas  of  human  achievement,  rich 
with  human  interest.  It  should  be  at  every 
stage  on  the  level  with  the  understanding  and 
degree  of  maturity  of  the  pupils  so  that  much 
reading  can  be  covered  rapidly. 

7.  In  Cleveland,  where  there  has  been  an 
almost  unequalled  amount  of  civic  discussion 
and  progressive  human- welfare  effort,  the  teach- 
ing of  civics  in  the  public  schools  receives  too 
little  attention.  It  is  recommended  that  the 
principals  and  teachers  make  such  a  civic  sur- 
vey as  that  made  in  Cincinnati  as  the  method 
of  discovering  the  topics  that  should  enter  into 
a  grammar-grade  course.  Not  much  civics 
teaching  should  be  attempted  in  the  inter- 
mediate grades,  but  it  should  be  given  in  the 
higher  grades. 

8.  A  new  course  of  study  in  geography  is  now 
being  put  into  use.   The  work  as  laid  out  in  the 

104 


old  manual  and  as  seen  in  the  classrooms  has 
been  forbiddingly  formal.  It  has  mainly  con- 
sisted of  the  teacher  assigning  to  the  pupils  a 
certain  number  of  paragraphs  or  pages  in  the 
textbook  as  the  next  lesson,  and  then  question- 
ing them  next  day  to  ascertain  how  much  of 
this  printed  material  they  have  remembered 
and  how  well.  The  new  course  of  study  recog- 
nizes, on  the  contrary,  that  the  proper  end  of 
geographical  teaching  is  rather  to  stimulate 
and  guide  the  children  toward  an  inquiring 
interest  as  to  how  the  world  is  made,  and  the 
skies  above,  and  the  waters  round  about,  and 
the  conditions  of  nature  that  limit  and  determine 
in  a  measure  the  development  of  mankind.  To 
attain  this  ideal  will  requu-e  in  every  school  10 
times  as  adequate  provision  of  geographical 
reading  and  geographical  material  as  is  now 
found  in  the  best  equipped  school. 

9.  Drawing  and  applied  art  have  been  taught 
in  Cleveland  since  1849.  The  object  of  the 
teaching  is  to  develop  an  understanding  and 
appreciation  of  the  principles  of  graphic  art 
and  ability  to  use  these  principles  in  practical 
applications.  Where  this  work  is  done  best,  it 
shows,  in  both  the  elementary  and  high  schools, 
balanced  understanding  and  complete  modern- 
ness.    What  is  needed  is  extension  of  this  best 


105 


type  of  work  to  all  parts  of  the  city  through 
specially  trained  departmental  teachers. 

10.  Where  teaching  of  household  arts  is  at 
its  best  in  Cleveland,  it  is  of  a  superior  char- 
acter and  should  be  extended  along  lines  now 
being  followed.  Manual  training  for  boys  should 
be  extended  and  broadened  with  a  view  to 
giving  the  pupils  real  contact  with  more  types 
of  industry  than  those  represented  by  the  pres- 
ent woodwork. 

11.  Elementary  science  finds  no  place  in  the 
course  of  study  of  Cleveland.  The  future  citi- 
zens of  Cleveland  will  need  an  understanding 
of  electricity,  heat,  expansion  and  contraction 
of  gases  and  solids,  the  mechanics  of  machines, 
distillations,  common  chemical  reactions,  and 
the  multitude  of  other  matters  of  science  met 
with  daily  in  their  activities.  The  schools  should 
help  supply  this  need. 

12.  Teaching  in  matters  pertaining  to  health 
is  assigned  little  time  in  the  elementary  schools, 
and  the  time  that  is  assigned  to  it  is  frequently 
given  to  something  else.  The  subject  gets  pushed 
off  the  program  by  one  of  the  so-called  "essen- 
tials." A  course  in  hygiene  should  be  drawn  up, 
and  practical  applications  of  the  work  should 
be  arranged  through  having  pupils  look  after 
the  sanitary  conditions  of  rooms  and  grounds. 


106 


The  school  doctors  and  nurses  should  help  in 
this  teaching  and  practice. 

13.  Physical  training  is  given  about  as  much 
time  as  in  the  average  city,  but  without  ade- 
quate facilities  for  outdoor  and  indoor  plays 
and  games.  At  present  the  work  is  too  largely 
of  the  formal  gymnastic  type.  Desirable  im- 
provements in  the  course  are  being  advocated 
by  the  directors  and  supervisors  of  the  work. 
They  are  recommending  and  introducing,  where 
conditions  will  permit,  the  use  of  games,  ath- 
letics, folk  dances,  and  the  like.  The  move- 
ment should  be  promoted  in  every  possible 
way. 

14.  In  the  elementary  schools  Cleveland  gives 
more  than  the  average  amount  of  time  to  music, 
but  in  the  high  schools  the  subject  is  developed 
only  incidentally  and  is  given  no  credit.  It  is 
a  question  whether  this  arrangement  is  the 
right  one,  and  in  considering  possible  extensions 
it  should  be  remembered  that  there  are  other 
subjects  of  far  more  pressing  immediate  neces- 
sity. 

15.  It  is  impossible  in  this  brief  report  to 
discuss  adequately  so  compHcated  a  matter  as 
that  of  the  teaching  of  foreign  languages  in  the 
high  schools,  but  some  of  the  most  important 
of  the  questions  at  issue  have  been  indicated 
as  matters  which  the  school  authorities  should 

107 


continue  to  study  until  satisfactory  solutions 
are  reached. 

16.  Where  school  work  in  Cleveland  is  back- 
ward, it  is  because  it  has  not  yet  taken  on  the 
social  point  of  view.  Where  it  is  progressive,  it 
is  being  developed  on  the  basis  of  human  needs. 
There  is  much  of  both  kinds  of  work  in  Cleve- 
land. 

17.  In  a  city  with  a  population  so  diversified 
as  is  that  of  Cleveland,  progress  should  be  made 
steadily  and  consciously  away  from  city-wide 
uniformity  in  courses  of  study  and  methods  of 
teaching.  There  should  be  progressive  differ- 
entiation of  courses  to  meet  the  widely  varying 
needs  of  the  different  sorts  of  children  in  differ- 
ent sections  of  the  city. 


108 


CLEVELAND  EDUCATION  SURVEY 

SECTIONAL  REPORTS 

These  reports  can  be  secured  from  the  Survey  Committee  of 
the  Cleveland  Foundation,  Cleveland,  Ohio.  They  will  be 
sent  postpaid  for  25  cents  per  volume  with  the  exception 
of  "Measuring  the  Work  of  the  PubHc  Schools"  by  Judd, 
"The  Cleveland  School  Survey  "  by  Ayres,  and  "  Wage  Earn- 
ing and  Education"  by  Lutz.  These  three  volumes  will  be 
sent  for  50  cents  each.  All  of  these  reports  may  be  secured 
at  the  same  rates  from  the  Division  of  Education  of  the 
Russell  Sage  Foimdation,  New  York  City. 

Child  Accounting  in  the  Pubhc  Schools — ^Ayres. 

Educational  Extension — Perry. 

Education  through  Recreation — Johnson. 

Financing  the  Public  Schools — Clark. 

Health  Work  in  the  Pubhc  Schools — Ayres. 

Household  Arts  and  School  Lunches — Boughton. 

Measuring  the  Work  of  the  Pubhc  Schools — Judd. 

Overcrowded  Schools  and  the  Platoon  Plan — Hart- 
well. 

School  Buildings  and  Equipment — ^Ayres. 

Schools  and  Classes  for  Exceptional  Children — Mit- 
chell. 

School  Organization  and  Administration — Ayres. 

The  Pubhc  Library  and  the  Pubhc  Schools. 

The  School  and  the  Immigrant. 

The  Teaching  Staff — Jessup. 

What  the  Schools  Teach  and  Might  Teach— Bobbitt. 

The  Cleveland  School  Survey  (Summary  volume) — 
Ayres.  _____ 

Boys  and  Girls  in  Commercial  Work — Stevens. 
Department  Store  Occupations — O'Leary. 
Dressmaking  and  Milhnery — Bryner. 
Railroad  and  Street  Transportation — Fleming. 
The  Building  Trades— Shaw. 
The  Garment  Trades — Bryner. 
The  Metal  Trades— Lutz. 
The  Printing  Trades — Shaw. 

Wage  Earning  and  Education  (Summary  volume) — 
Lutz. 


iiiil "" 


